John Beavis

Effects of land use on the amino acid composition of soils: 1. Manured and unmanured soils from the Broadbalk continuous wheat experiment, Rothamsted, England

Abstract Concentrations of amino acids were measured in hydrolysates of manured and unmanured soils collected in 1881 and 1980 from the Broadbalk continuous wheat experiment at Rothamsted (England). Discriminant analysis successfully separated the treatment groups after the effect of absolute amino acid concentration had been removed. This suggests that it may be possible to identify an amino acid “fingerprint” from soils reflecting land use, and which could be used as a basis for classifying soils. This could have the potential for application in archaeology.

Planning for a Qatar Without Oil: Tourism and Economic Diversification, a Battle of Perceptions

Abstract Qatars long-term strategy is to plan for when the country will not be dependent upon oil and gas reserves. The strategy focuses on export diversification through development of service industries, including finance, knowledge-based sectors and tourism. This is a sensible option given the availability of capital and paucity of non-energy resources. To date the success in attracting tourists has been limited. The country faces challenges with its economic diversification strategy through tourism, including the task of creating a strong destination image and assuring personal safety, civil liberty and political stability in a region not noted for these characteristics. It also needs to offer a product sensitive to the religious and cultural traditions of the host population whilst appealing to international tourists. This paper looks at diversification as a development strategy, the rationale for Qatars diversification strategy, the risk perceptions and appeal of Qatar as a destination and empirically tests whether Qatar fits into a typology of evoked, inert or inept sets of destinations. The results show strong support for the link between export diversification and economic growth but while seen as a safe destination, Qatar lacks appeal and does not fall into the evoked set of destinations for UK visitors.

Major incident triage: Derivation and comparative analysis of the Modified Physiological Triage Tool (MPTT)

BACKGROUND Triage is a key principle in the effective management at a major incident. There are at least three different triage systems in use worldwide and previous attempts to validate them, have revealed limited sensitivity. Within a civilian adult population, there has been no work to develop an improved system. METHODS A retrospective database review of the UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry was performed for all adult patients (>18years) presenting to a deployed Military Treatment Facility between 2006 and 2013. Patients were defined as Priority One if they had received one or more life-saving interventions from a previously defined list. Using first recorded hospital physiological data (HR/RR/GCS), binary logistic regression models were used to derive optimum physiological ranges to predict need for life-saving intervention. This allowed for the derivation of the Modified Physiological Triage Tool-MPTT (GCS≥14, HR≥100, 12<RR≥22). A comparison of the MPTT and existing triage tools was then performed using sensitivities and specificities with 95% confidence intervals. Differences in performance were assessed for statistical significance using a McNemar test with Bonferroni correction. RESULTS Of 6095 patients, 3654 (60.0%) had complete data and were included in the study, with 1738 (47.6%) identified as priority one. Existing triage tools had a maximum sensitivity of 50.9% (Modified Military Sieve) and specificity of 98.4% (Careflight). The MPTT (sensitivity 69.9%, 95% CI 0.677-0.720, specificity 65.3%, 95% CI 0.632-0.675) showed an absolute increase in sensitivity over existing tools ranging from 19.0% (Modified Military Sieve) to 45.1% (Triage Sieve). There was a statistically significant difference between the performance (p<0.001) between the MPTT and the Modified Military Sieve. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION The performance characteristics of the MPTT exceed existing major incident triage systems, whilst maintaining an appropriate rate of over-triage and minimising under-triage within the context of predicting the need for a life-saving intervention in a military setting. Further work is required to both prospectively validate this system and to identify its performance within a civilian environment, prior to recommending its use in the major incident setting.

Surface analysis of architectural terracotta including new and soiled examples, and pieces treated with a hydrofluoric acid-based cleaning solution

The great quantity of buildings faced with architectural terracotta and faience, principally constructed between 1860 and 1930, now present a major problem in terms of repair, maintenance, and conservation. During a study into the nature of soiling on terracotta, and the effects of different cleaning methods, the authors used a variety of surface analytical and conventional chemical techniques to study the samples. These techniques include scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic absorption (AAS), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The authors identified aluminum and silicon as the major elemental components of terracotta, with iron and calcium present in smaller amounts, and trace levels of potassium, magnesium, and titanium. More iron is present in red terracotta than in the buff variety; the reverse is true for titanium. The major crystalline species are cristobalite and mullite. Soiling may be attributed to the elements calcium, sulfur, and chlorine, although pulverised fuel ash (PFA) and iron-rich particles have also been found incorporated into the surface layer. The latter are possibly generated by blast furnace activity. The treatment of terracotta with a proprietary hydrofluoric acid cleaning solution has been shown to enlarge the surface pores, increasing the potential for damage due to water penetration. Large amounts of fluorine remain on the surface after this treatment, even following prolonged rinsing, and penetrate to a considerable depth. Silicon and potassium appear to have been most affected by the treatment; calcium, iron, and titanium were less affected. -- AATA