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From a historical perspective, it is difficult to identify a specific date that launched the field of endocrinology. One "biomarker" of the inception of endocrinology traces back to Ernest Henry Starling, who first introduced the word hormone in a talk given in 1905 at the Royal College of Physicians in London (Starling, 1905). A historical look at the field of endocrine regulation of animal growth since 1905 conveys that countless scientists worldwide worked to advance the scientific evidence base, which led to the commercial development of hormone-based products that enhanced growth and beneficially changed carcass composition of meat animals. This review will discuss some of seminal contributions that include the discovery of hormones (like ST and β-adrenergic agonists) that have been shown to play key roles in regulating growth and nutrient partitioning of livestock, the mechanisms by which these hormones act, and the development of products for application in animal agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The refurbishment of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel (formerly the Midland Grand Hotel) provided a unique opportunity to investigate the interior design history of this iconic London landmark. During the refurbishment, wallpapers were uncovered from the initial decorative schemes of the hotel in the 1870s and from later interior design schemes until the building's closure in the 1980s. This article demonstrates how the CoBRA (Conservation-based Research and Analysis) methodology can be applied to increase our understanding of the history of interiors. The conservation process adds a new perspective to the historiography of the papered interior and its significance in the interior design process. By combining archival research with access to the original wallpapers during the retrieval and subsequent conservation process, it has been possible to construct an account of this commercial building's decorative schemes. Many of the earliest wallpapers were supplied by Jeffrey and Co., a London firm that worked with William Morris and other prominent designers. The wallpapers illustrate how the approach to the interior design of this building evolved over time, moving away from the Gothic Revival style of interior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a revised version of a paper on international treaties and British statutes, presented at the Annual Conference of the Statute Law Society, held at the Institute of Advance Legal Studies, London, England on November 1, 2003. According to the article, treaties are important within the system of international law, and statutes are essential in the British legal system. Statutes modify or make new law, while treaties make and contract laws. Several aspects of statutes and treaties are discussed, such as drafting and application.

The article focuses on a revised version of a paper on the enactment of treaties, presented during the Annual Conference of the Statute Law Society at the Institute of Advance Legal Studies, London, England on November 1, 2003. Particular focus is given to examples of modern practices in treaty enactment, including additional protocols to the Geneva Conventions I and II of 1977, enacted by the Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act 1995. The enactment of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 is also discussed.

A Victorian entrepreneur, Joseph Gillott, is a key figure in the history of collecting and patronage from the mid-1840s. He assembled one of the largest and most important painting collections of the day and also collected musical instruments and precious stones. His huge fortune derived from the development of machinery to enable the mass production of steel pens with 'elongated points' (nibs). The traffic of works of art was constant and large numbers of paintings were traded mostly through a network of dealers. To accommodate his vast collection, Gillott built three picture galleries at his house in Edgbaston, Birmingham, and another at his London house in Stanmore, Middlesex. His collection was dispersed after his death at a much publicized six-day sale at Christie's in 1872. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the literary works of famous playwright William Shakespeare in London, England. Development on the theory of bad quartos; Distinctions between the authorial good texts and the derivative bad ones; Details on the theory about the transmission of theatrical texts.

The article offers information on the Commonwealth Fund Conference in American History at University College London in England from February 12-14, 1998. A seminar titled "Film Studies: Past, Present and Future," was attended by some conference participants. During the conference, several papers addressed questions of who was in the movie theatre and what constituted evidence of their film reception.

The article discusses the highlights of the third biennial International Television Studies Conference held at the University of London's Institute of Education in England. Raymond Williams, who had been co-president with Hilde Himmelweit until his death in 1988, was replaced as keynote speaker by Stuart Hall, who discussed contradictions between deregulation and centralisation. The plenary session on the final day was chaired by outgoing BFI director Anthony Smith, and featured Himmelweit, who talked about media research.

The article presents a report on the weekend school on March 25-27, 1977 in London about the study of Hollywood melodrama and its place within ideology. According to the report, Hollywood melodrama can be read as an instance of revealed conflicting statements within bourgeois ideology. The introduction of the report also reveals that the terms and actions utilized during the weekend school reflected political and cultural preoccupations. On the other hand, the article also includes one of the papers prepared for the weekend and a note regarding the Freudian concept of family romance.

This article focuses on a study designed to determine effects of television on the reading of newspapers and magazines in London, England. According to the author, the methodological problem involved in this and similar studies of the effects of mass communication is that there was no available alternative to an ex post facto "experimental" design in which respondents themselves selected whether they were to be viewers or non-viewers. Moreover, since respondents could not be randomly assigned to the two conditions by the investigator, differences between the two groups on the dependent variable, frequency of newspaper reading, could be attributed either to the effects of television or to initial differences between the two groups. With regard to all these observations, it can be concluded that television may have had the effect of increasing the reading and buying of papers of popular press with their lighter, shorter material and of decreasing the reading and buying of the more serious papers.

This article presents the author's reply to Edwin B. Parker on his observations regarding the study conducted by the author towards the effects of television on magazine and newspaper reading in London, England. According to the author, while the process of matching in terms of the correlates of both dependent and independent variables has been used before, Parker has suggested, under the term "covariance procedure," a more formal and systematic use of the technique, a distinct contribution, practical development of which is more than likely. In addition to this, Parker is quite right in reminding a basic weakness in the use of matching as a means of isolating effects. One can and must build checks into the matching process but in the end some degree of doubt must remain about the efficiency of the matching achieved. If Parker had argued from this position in presenting his covariance method as a means of reducing uncertainty, there would have been no point of difference between him and the author.

Focuses on the sessions at the Early Modern German History Workshop held at the German Historical Institute in London, England. Examination of drawings by Valentin Wagner observing everyday life during the Thirty Years War; Research papers on the issues of presence and presentation of the ruler through architectural and verbal means; Theory of confessionalization in the context of military and Imperial politics; Discussion of social and economic issues.

Highlights a conference on visual culture, held in London, England in September 2002. Inclusion of David Mellor's personal view of Britain's postwar cultural landscape; Jessica Evans' address on visual culture; Rob Shields' comparison of perceptions of urban visual culture with British neorealist cinema from the 1950s and 1960s.

The one-month pre.service training courses validated by UCLES (Cambridge) and Trinity College, London are a popular avenue of entry into the EFL teaching profession, and attract thousands of enrolments annually. Yet, despite the scale of this training activity, there seems to be a curious dearth of published research into the phenomenon. Against this background, this paper examines some of the assumptions underlying the one-month training courses and their professional ramifications, and argues that because the circumstances of EFL teaching are now so different from those of the 1960s, when these courses first emerged, this is an opportune moment to question whether they remain an optimal form of initial TEFL training. The changes which have had most impact are (i) changing views regarding the position of the native speaker, (ii) developments in E LT methodology, and (iii) changes in the theory and practice of initial teacher training. The paper concludes with some suggestions for reform and proposals for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper seeks to understand the Asian crisis through the eyes of the City of London. Relying upon material provided by The Financial Times (FT), we construct an index of pessimism to chart the dominant City of London interpretation of the path of the crisis. This index is set against data on the actual performance of the Hong Kong, and Tokyo, London, and New York stock markets over the same period. We have the luxury of retrospectively reconstructing the actual path of the crisis whereas the FT (and global financial markets) had to respond to specific events in a chain of apparent cumulative events. Our goal is to explain the construction of the dominant pessimistic interpretation of the path of the crisis, placing the City of London in the context of global markets (in time, between Tokyo and New York). In the penultimate section of the paper we report on an interview with Riley, the FT columnist, about the results of our analysis, emphasizing the apparent homogeneity of information and opinion in the City of London as opposed to New York. The conclusion focuses upon the implications of this argument for the study of discontinuities between global markets, and the future of financial centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on two conferences on French studies in England. Participants in the New Approaches to Zola Centenary Colloquium held in Cambridge in April 2002; Theme of the First Annual Conference of the Society of Dix-Neuvémistes in London.

The article discusses the highlights of the international conference on Melodrama hosted by the British Film Institute in London, England from July 6-10, 1992. Discussions covered the history of melodrama, gender issues in the genre, the relationship between critics and readers/consumers and the relationship between theory and practice. Issues that the conference reportedly did not address more forcefully were concerns on the dominance of western legacy on studies of melodrama and how theorists' ideas can be applied.

This paper makes a contribution to debate about the intervention of religious organizations in matters of industrial relations, labour markets and public policy in relation to work. We draw on new empirical data to explore the involvement of low-paid migrant workers in faith organizations and relate this to the ways in which faith organizations have begun to engage in political campaigns to challenge the nature of work and immigration control. Using the example of London Citizens’ living wage and regularization campaigns, the paper explores the basis on which faith organizations can provide the space for social and political solidarity among and beyond immigrants in low-paid jobs in London today. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The environmental impact of the UK building stock has increased the pressure on architects, engineers and building operators to reduce the use of air conditioning in favour of more passive cooling solutions. Good progress has been made in this direction but many passive solutions are limited to new-build projects. For existing buildings, and those for which mechanical air conditioning cannot be avoided, low energy cooling capability can be incorporated to improve significantly overall efficiency. This paper focuses on one such example – cooling using groundwater, which has gained popularity in recent years in the London area. Among the reasons for this are the excellent energy efficiency and the increasing viability of water abstraction systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and policy-makers are increasingly recognizing that urban socio-environmental conditions can affect the development and course of numerous health problems. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact an urban regeneration programme can have on everyday functioning, coping and recovery for people with a mental illness. We were also interested in discerning which component parts of the regeneration are the most important in positively affecting people with mental illness. These questions were explored through an in-depth qualitative case study of the Gospel Oak neighbourhood in London, which recently underwent an intensive urban regeneration programme. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with residents living with a mental illness (n = 16). Relevant participant observation was also conducted. Participants reported that interventions that improved community safety were by far the most important in affecting everyday coping and functioning. interventions that improved the quantity and quality of shared community facilities had a positive, but milder effect on mental health. Component parts that appeared to have little effect included environmental landscaping and greater community involvement in decision-making processes. Most participants reported that their mental illness was a consequence of severe insults over the life-span, for example childhood neglect or family breakdown. Thus, the regeneration was seen as something that could assist coping, but not something that could significantly contribute to complete recovery. Our results thus suggest that urban regeneration can have a mild impact on people with mental illness, but this appears to be outweighed by life-span experience of severe individual-level risk factors. That said, some of our findings converge with other studies indicating that community safety and community facilities can play a role in positively affecting mental health. Further ethnographic and epidemiological research is necessary to explore these two factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attitudes of the National Gallery in London towards the display of paintings by artificial light are examined, with particular reference to the exhibition of the paintings of the Vernon donation and the Turner bequest. Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century there was a long-running debate about the suitability of artificial lighting in picture galleries. The debate split the museum establishment. Some argued that evening opening, by allowing access by working people, would make the use of collections more socially inclusive. Others, as exemplified by the National Gallery, feared this potential new audience; they were also alarmed by the risk of fire, concerned about the aesthetic considerations of displaying works of art by artificial light and nervous of the potential damage that might be caused by combustion products. Yet, because of lack of space in its Trafalgar Square premises, the National Gallery's British School pictures, mainly from the Vernon and Turner collections, were on display at South Kensington where, for several years, they were exhibited by gaslight. Following the return of the British School to Trafalgar Square, the Trustees resisted mounting pressure to open the Gallery in the evening for the benefit of working people. They maintained their resistance until well into the twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper on the "Tate Thames Dig" by Mark Dion is presented. The author discusses the design of the wooden cabinet by Mark Dion which was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in London. She comments on the history of the cabinet and its implications for art installations. An overview of the cabinet is presented.

This paper presents an account of a pilot project to design and implement an innovative, sex-worker-driven approach to peer education in London. A 28-mm, double-sided tape cassette containing extracts of sex workers talking candidly about their work was compiled from oral history recordings. The aims were to pilot process issues in compiling the collaborative resource, and to stimulate discussion of health and safety issues, exploring whether the resource could potentially enhance positive changes in sex workers' knowledge and awareness, self-esteem, and lifeskills. In a limited pilot distribution, 15 sex workers and seven outreach workers in London listened to the tape and completed short evaluation questionnaires. The paper sets out strengths and weaknesses of the pilot method, linking these to broader critical reflections on issues raised about peer education to, for and by sex workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the highlights of the European Film and Television Studies Conference (EFTSP) entitled Turbulent Europe: Conflict, Identity and Culture which was held in London, England from July 19-22 1994. Problems of the former Yugoslavia dominated the most heated debates, and topics such as the nation state, the public sphere and dynamics between the global and the local provided the framework for the discussions. The conference featured several keynote speakers from the film industry including Nik Gowing, Thomas Elsasser and Sonia Livingstone.

The article presents information about the 2nd Franco-British Reunion organized by the British Association of Dermatology which took place in London, England during July 20-21, 1956. The first day was occupied by eight papers related to dermatology, four of which were read by our French guests and four by British members. The nest morning a clinical meeting was held at Saint Thomas's Hospital at which 41 dermatological cases were demonstrated and afterwards discussed. The principal speakers were dermatologist G. B. Dowling and dermatologist Alice Carleton proposed the health of the guests.

The article focuses on the public art collections, particularly historic wallpaper, housed at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Manchester City Art Gallery, and the University of Manchester's Whitworth Art Gallery in England. According to the author, the arts relationship is close because the two owe to their existence and the other much of its substance which one had its originas in the publication of "The History of English Wallpaper 1509-1914," co-authored by A. V. Sugden and J. L. Edmondson. However, the book "Historic Wall-Papers," by Nancy McClelland revealed that there had never been a serious and scholarly attempt to make a study of the subject from original documents.

Focuses on the characterization of criminal law for forgery in the eighteenth-century in London, England. Origin of forgery statute of 1729; Account of a forgery case involving William Hales, a descendant from a Baron of the Exchequer under Henry VIII; Transition from pillory to gallows statute.

The article offers information on the Commonwealth Fund Conference in American History at University College London in England from February 12-14, 1998. The Commonwealth Fund Lecture of Janet Staiger focused on the history of American film reception. In the keynote lecture, "Home Alone Together: Hollywood and the Family Film," Robert Allen examined the relationship between the discursive structure of the family in contemporary Hollywood film and the concept of modern-day family entertainment.

Draws attention to five unrecorded autograph poems by Lord Byron discovered in the Jersey Papers held in Greater London Record Office, England. Variants noted; Background on the poems; Transcriptions of the poems as they appear in the Jersey Papers.

Presents an update on international conferences on French studies as of September 2002. Subjects discussed at La représentacion de l'homme 1700-1830 held at the Institut Française de Royaume-Uni in London, England; Topics covered at Françoise de Graffigny: Nouvelles Approches held at Trinity College in Oxford, England; Key-note speaker at a conference on the theme of New Women's Writing in French held at the Institute of Romance Studies.

The article focuses on people who assisted in selecting papers from a symposium on "Accounting and Financial Markets" held at the August 2000 meeting of the European Finance Association in London, England. In the initial stages, selection was assisted by Professors Ray Ball of the University of Chicago and Elroy Dimson of the London Business School. Also, Gilad Livne of the London Business School edited these papers.

The article profiles the life and works of researcher and plant physiologist Daphne J. Osborne. It notes that Osborne is a Doctor of Philosophy in the University of London in London, England supervised by R. L. Wain which marks the beginning of her research career. It mentions that her thesis titled "Studies on Plant Growth Regulators" is published in 1950 and she continues to work in this field for a lifetime. It also cites that she remains focused on research throughout her productive life.

Although most historiographic attention about the quality of London's drinking water has been directed towards the nineteenth century, it was an important subject in the eighteenth century as well. This paper focuses particularly on the New River supply to the city and shows that different groups approached the subject in various ways. The New River Company was constantly concerned about quality in regard to matter that affected the water's taste, appearance and smell, meaning mostly weeds, leaves and mud. Popular opinion, however, fixated on one subject above all others: that of people bathing in the New River. This source of contamination created such ire because the practice of bathing was becoming increasingly popular for its health effects; those objecting mingled moral and spiritual impurity with the contamination of the water; and finally, there was a strong class element to the dispute, with the bathers being from the lower classes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Details additional manuscripts from arch-druid William Stukeley, acquired by the Library at the Masonic Temple in Longacre, in London, England. Includes an exegesis of the first Book of Genesis, dated 1717; `The Order of the Pillars of Solomon's Temple Demonstrated'; `Tabula Isiaca, The iergolyphocs of the Egyptians.'

The article presents information on dramatist and critic George Bernard Shaw's attempts to publish his first novel "Immaturity," in 1879-80, generated partly by a written comment made late in his life. Shaw began searching for a publisher soon after finishing his novel. After several publishers rejected the work he approached publishing firm William Blackwood, and submitted his manuscript to the London office of the firm. Joseph Munt Langford, manager of the London Office and one of William Blackwood's most trusted literary advisers, subsequently looked over the manuscript in early and was impressed by the promise shown in it.

The City of London’s competitiveness is founded on its global talent pool and ability to attract and retain workers of all nationalities. Drawing on ONS Long-Term International Migration data and fieldwork-based studies of banking, professional services and business education, the argument of this paper is 2-fold: that the City’s competitiveness is significantly dependent on the functioning of its global labour market, of which a key factor is the immigration of European Economic Area (EEA) and non-EEA talent, and that a central determinant of the City’s position as a leading international financial centre based around a highly competitive global labour pool will be UK immigration policy in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and ensuing recession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1930s, Labour-dominated boroughs in central London embarked on an experiment in health and social transformation, at the centre of which was the construction of new health centres. The ‘all-in’ state-run health centres in Bermondsey, Finsbury, Southwark and Woolwich attempted to provide a comprehensive array of primary and preventive health services to working people and families, close to home or work. The centres shared a model of health with several principles in common: a notion of health improvement as linked to broader social transformation through the enhancement of urban space; a seamless integration of preventive and curative health services; care delivered by multidisciplinary teams; accessibility (spatially and economically); didactic education in self-care; and democratic local governance. This paper argues that these Labour borough councils, with the support of the London County Council after 1934, played a key role in ‘making real’ what had been an amorphous health centre ideal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Across low- and middle-income countries on the one hand, and high-income countries on the other, there is confusion in the terminology relating to the study of health services and health systems. This commentary discusses health policy and systems research (HPSR) methods, drawing on the health services research literature and on recent work on HPSR. An earlier version of the text was written to contribute to discussions at a meeting organized by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, an agency set up in 1998 to promote and support such research in low- and middle-income countries. The paper comments on the field of HPSR methods, suggests priorities and identifies challenges facing the field of HPSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new definition of fear of crime that integrates two conceptual developments in this enduring field of criminological enquiry. Our measurement strategy differentiates first between specific worries and diffuse anxieties in emotional responses to crime, and second between productive and counterproductive effects on subjective well-being and precautionary activities. Drawing on data from a representative survey of seven London neighbourhoods, these distinctions are combined into an ordinal scale that moves from the ‘unworried’, to low-level motivating emotions, to frequent and dysfunctional worry about crime. We demonstrate that different categories of ‘fear’ have different correlates and explain different levels of variation in public confidence in policing. We conclude with a call for more longitudinal research to uncover the dynamic nature of fear of crime over the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The craze for sitting for, buying, exchanging and collecting carte-de-visites was a major development in the history of photography’s widening cultural currency. The commercial exploitation of this miniature portrait format in Paris at the hands of A. A. E. Disdéri has been the subject of an extensive study but the scholarship that attends the carte phenomenon in Britain seems content with to credit J. J. E. Mayall’s portraits of royalty for its success. This paper takes the most extensive single carte studio archive preserved in the UK, that comprised by the daybooks of Camille Silvy (dating from c. 1860 to 1868), in order to examine the question to how this studio became known as one of the most fashionable in London even before many in the metropolis would have heard of a carte-de-visite. A previously undocumented performer series made during Silvy’s first season in London provides the basis for a re-reading of his portrait venture in relation to West End comic theatre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing emphasis on prevention, personalisation and self-care or active citizenship in England. This paper reports on the Smarter Working in Social care & Health (SWISH) study of the development of an information technology system that allows older people to assess their own health and to receive personalised feedback and considers the implications for social work practice and commissioning. The study took place in two London areas (2005–7). Its objectives were 1) to refine a method to improve access to information and services, and to identify older people at risk, and 2) to examine the potential of the method to enrich public sector information and to profile local populations to inform local commissioners. A multi-method approach consolidated findings from focus groups and interviews with older people and professionals. Under the first objective, views were mixed. The existing health risk assessment tool was seen as comprehensive, with the capacity to identify low-level risks to well-being, although possibly burdensome. Under the second objective, social workers and managers were uncertain how to make use of local population data and to the capacity of local resources to meet information needs. Messages for practitioners and managers are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

These two documents from the state papers of Henry VIII, one previously misdated, provide evidence of Thomas Cranmer's and Thomas Cromwell's investigation between 1536 and 1538 of ecclesiastical corruption involving Sir Richard Mabot, master of St. Thomas's Hospital in Southwark. This is an example of Cranmer and Cromwell genuinely attempting reform – the abuses at St. Thomas's were extensive – but Cromwell may also have tried to exploit the case to his advantage in his ongoing struggle with Bishop Stephen Gardiner for political influence with the king and to determine the future direction of the English church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the befriending of severely excluded families, particularly Bangladeshi and Somali families, in Tower Hamlets, East London by Family Support Workers (FSWs). Tower Hamlets is one of the most deprived boroughs in the UK. The study is derived from an evaluation of the Family Welfare Association's (FWA's) Tower Hamlets Family Support Services (FSSs) conducted by South Bank University. A key finding is that engaging the emotions of families enables high-quality and effective support in the family home. FSWs win trust and elicit narratives from families, particularly from mothers and children. The narratives of families are a rich source of informing better practice. In line with government objectives, the participatory work of FSWs helps to balance understanding on family support, health and child protection. The early identification of child protection issues is particularly important in mitigating their worst effects. FSWs gain trust and early disclosure on child protection cases. This prevents child-care problems from deteriorating into child protection issues. FSWs also act as informal advocates and help to balance social service assessments with the views of families. FSWs take a proactive, non-stigmatizing, non-intrusive approach to families. FSWs are sensitive and responsive to the emotions, ethnicity, gender and specific needs of families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Flora of Syria, Palestine and Sinai, a pioneer Flora of the region, was published in 1896 by George Edward Post (1838–1909). Lesser known are his series of Diagnoses plantarum novarum orientalium, published in the Journal of the Linnean Society Botany, and 10 papers, Plantae Postianae, which appeared in Swiss journals from 1890 to 1900. A greatly expanded second edition of the Flora was prepared by John Edward Dinsmore and published in Beirut in 1932 and 1933. Post's plant collection is part of the Post Herbarium (BEI), with about 63 000 specimens, that has been well maintained, despite civil war and inadequate staffing. This work involves the identification of around 150 types in BEI and BM, and improvement of the accessibility of the specimens. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 159, 315–321. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most American and English cancer patients prefer to die at home. Factors associated with greater likelihood of dying at home have been contradictory in many studies and no studies have compared the effects of factors in different countries. The objective of this paper is to compare the factors affecting place of cancer death in two major cities, New York and London. Methods: We use data on all individuals aged ≥40 dying of cancer in London (59604) and New York City (51 668) in the years 1995 through 1998. The probability of death at home is examined in each city as a function of gender, age group (40-55, 56-64, 65-74, 75+), year, type of cancer, and area socioeconomic status, using multiple logistic regression. Results: Although the probability of death at home is the same in the two cities (∼1 in 5), being female lowers the odds of death at home by ∼7% in London, and raises it by ∼22% in New York. Older age is associated with increased odds of dying at home in New York but decreased odds of dying at home in London. Being in the lowest tercile of socioeconomic status (relative to the highest) lowers the odds of death at home by 22% in London and 39% in New York. Conclusion: Site of death varies significantly by patient and area characteristics in both cities, an understanding, which should be taken account of in future planning of end-of-life care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central question of this paper is why are there only three works by Hans Holbein in the National Gallery, London? Through an account of the slow and difficult process of acquiring Holbeins for the national collection, the histories of these three paintings are linked in an exploration of the dialectics of presence and absence in the National Gallery. Each work bought for the Gallery was purchased from the seat of an English land-owning dynasty, and scrutiny of the processes of their acquisition illuminates the cultural politics of transfer from aristocratic to public ownership. Overall, this study of the Gallery's desire for Holbein reveals the invisible threads that bind the paintings on the gallery wall to each other's histories, as well as to the extrinsic fields of finance, the law and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work on the inspiration for sanitary reform remains divided between interpretations stressing the political and ideological roots of reform and those emphasising its financial prerequisites. This paper draws these two lines of argument together through a study of a precedent-setting legal case on drainage financing in Whitechapel. The case illustrates the centrality of financing to projects of reform but also highlights the political nature of financing decisions. Whitechapel's decision about paying for sewers raised issues of political principle that connect it to contemporary debates over Poor Law financing and the provision in general of local government services in London. An examination of the court case surrounding the project under consideration reveals the complex dynamics of sanitary reform in Whitechapel. The case reaffirms the importance of local political commitments in the context of permissive public health legislation and illustrates the largely neglected role that the judiciary at all levels played in resisting, reflecting and shaping parochial political philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban woodlands and green spaces provide a range of benefits to people in densely populated areas: as places to use, view and enjoy. There is increasing interest in green spaces and their impacts on people's quality of life. The work described in this paper involved a partnership between Peabody Trust, a social housing association; the Forestry Commission and Trees for Cities, an environmental charity. The aim of the project was to involve residents in the use and enjoyment of their local woodland. The research gained an understanding of how the residents of two housing estates in South London view and experience their local woodland, called Peabody Hill Wood. Three focus groups and a questionnaire were undertaken with residents. Observations were also made at a community activity day and walk through the wood with local residents. From the analysis of the data, there was a complex mix of attitudes towards Peabody Hill Wood that related to not only the management of the wood but also the management of the buildings by Peabody Trust. This research highlights, as a number of other studies have, that woodlands near to where people live are valuable spaces and play a significant role by providing opportunity for contact with nature. Key implications of the research suggest that housing associations can have an important role to play in green space management. Partnership working with the environmental sector can help bring about much needed improvements to the environment. Working with communities and sustaining long-term commitment are also advocated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]