Geophysical investigations in UK graveyards: re-use of existing burial grounds

Three graveyards with contrasting soil types and burial styles have been investigated in order to determine the optimum geophysical detection technique(s) and configurations. These include St. James’, Newchapel, Stoke-on-Trent, St. Luke’s, Endon, Stoke-on-Trent and St. John of Jerusalem’s in Hackney, North London. GPR results determined that 250-450 MHz dominant frequency antennae were optimal to detect isolated graves and vaults. 2D GPR profile interpretation was generally preferred to horizontal time-slices, the latter being generally variable in quality due to the surprisingly made-ground nature of the site. Fixed-offset resistivity surveys using 0.5 m and 1 m spaced probe configurations found that 0.5m spaced probes were generally optimal, using 0.25 m point spacings on 0.5m-spaced survey lines (Figure 1 for example). Archaeological investigations of selected graveyard areas found surprising variation in both style (from vaults with eight vertically stacked individuals to isolated graves), orientation and grave contents (with missing and extra individuals respectively). This study showed existing parish records to be surprisingly incomplete when compared to geophysical anomalies and archaeological excavations, indicating a number of incorrectly marked and possibly unmarked burials. Graves and vault markers finally do not always indicate the character of vault or burial style

Comparison of magnetic, electrical and ground penetrating radar surveys to detect buried forensic objects in semi-urban and domestic patio environments

Near-surface geophysical techniques should be routinely utilized by law enforcement agencies to locate shallowly buried forensic objects, saving human and other resources. However, there has been little published research on optimum geophysical detection method(s) and configurations beyond metal detectors. This paper details multi-technique geophysical surveys to detect simulated unmarked illegal weapons, explosive devices and arms caches that were shallowly buried within a semi-urban environment test site. A concrete patio was then overlaid to represent a common household garden environment before re-surveying. Results showed that the easily utilized magnetic susceptibility probe was optimal for target detection in both semi-urban and patio environments, while basic metal detector surveys had a lower target detection rate in the patio scenario with some targets remaining undetected. High-frequency (900 MHz) ground penetrating radar antennae were optimum for target detection in the semi-urban environment, while 450 and 900 MHz frequencies had similar detection rates in the patio scenario. Resistivity surveys at 0.25 m probe and sampling spacing were good for target detection in the semi-urban environment. 2D profiles were sufficient for target detection, but resistivity datasets required site de-trending to resolve targets in map view. Forensic geophysical techniques are rapidly evolving to assist search investigators to detect hitherto difficult-to-locate buried forensic targets

New mean field theories for the liquid-vapor transition of charged hard spheres

The phase behavior of the primitive model of electrolytes is studied in the framework of various mean field approximations obtained recently by means of methods pertaining to statistical field theory (CAILLOL, J.-M., 2004, \textit{J. Stat. Phys.}, \textbf{115}, 1461). The role of the regularization of the Coulomb potential at short distances is discussed in details and the link with more traditional approximations of the theory of liquids is discussed. The values computed for the critical temperatures, chemical potentials, and densities are compared with available Monte Carlo data and other theoretical predictions.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, 3 table

Composite Fermion Metals from Dyon Black Holes and S-Duality

We propose that string theory in the background of dyon black holes in four-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime is holographic dual to conformally invariant composite Dirac fermion metal. By utilizing S-duality map, we show that thermodynamic and transport properties of the black hole match with those of composite fermion metal, exhibiting Fermi liquid-like. Built upon Dirac-Schwinger-Zwanziger quantization condition, we argue that turning on magnetic charges to electric black hole along the orbit of Gamma(2) subgroup of SL(2,Z) is equivalent to attaching even unit of statistical flux quanta to constituent fermions. Being at metallic point, the statistical magnetic flux is interlocked to the background magnetic field. We find supporting evidences for proposed holographic duality from study of internal energy of black hole and probe bulk fermion motion in black hole background. They show good agreement with ground-state energy of composite fermion metal in Thomas-Fermi approximation and cyclotron motion of a constituent or composite fermion excitation near Fermi-point.Comment: 30 pages, v2. 1 figure added, minor typos corrected; v3. revised version to be published in JHE

The UK market for energy service contracts in 2014–2015

This paper provides an overview of the UK market for energy service contracts in 2014 and highlights the growing role of intermediaries. Using information from secondary literature and interviews, it identifies the businesses offering energy service contracts, the sectors and organisations that are purchasing those contracts, the types of contract that are available, the areas of market growth and the reasons for that growth. The paper finds that the UK market is relatively large, highly diverse, concentrated in particular sectors and types of site and overwhelmingly focused upon established technologies with high rates of return. A major driver is the emergence of procurement frameworks for energy service contracts in the public sector. These act as intermediaries between clients and contractors, thereby lowering transaction costs and facilitating learning. The market is struggling to become established in commercial offices, largely as a result of split incentives, and is unlikely to develop further in this sector without different business models, tenancy arrangements and policy initiatives. Overall, the paper concludes that energy service contracts can play an important role in the transition to a low-carbon economy, especially when supported by intermediaries, but their potential is still limited by high transaction costs

Discourses of climate delay

‘Discourses of climate delay’ pervade current debates on climate action. These discourses accept the existence of climate change, but justify inaction or inadequate efforts. In contemporary discussions on what actions should be taken, by whom and how fast, proponents of climate delay would argue for minimal action or action taken by others. They focus attention on the negative social effects of climate policies and raise doubt that mitigation is possible. Here, we outline the common features of climate delay discourses and provide a guide to identifying them

Objective assessment of dietary patterns using metabolic phenotyping: a randomized, controlled, crossover trial

Background: The burden of non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease and cancer, can be reduced by the consumption of healthy diets. Accurate monitoring of changes in dietary patterns in response to food policy implementation is challenging. Metabolic profiling allows simultaneous measurement of hundreds of metabolites in urine, many of them influenced by food intake. We aim to classify people according to dietary behaviour and enhance dietary reporting using metabolic profiling of urine. Methods: To develop metabolite models from 19 healthy volunteers who attended a clinical research unit for four day periods on four occasions. We used the World Health Organisation’s healthy eating guidelines (increase fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, dietary fibre and decrease fats, sugars, and salt) to develop four dietary interventions lasting for four days each that ranged from a diet associated with a low to high risk of developing non-communicable disease. Urine samples were measured by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. This study is registered as an International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial, number ISRCTN 43087333. INTERMAP U.K. (n=225) and a healthy-eating Danish cohort (n=66) were used as free-living validation datasets. Findings: There was clear separation between the urinary metabolite profiles of the four diets. We also demonstrated significant stepwise differences in metabolite levels between the lowest and highest metabolic risk diets and developed metabolite models for each diet. Application of the derived metabolite models to independent cohorts confirmed the association between urinary metabolic and dietary profiles in INTERMAP (P<0•001) and the Danish cohort (P<0•001). Interpretation: Urinary metabolite models, developed in a highly controlled environment, can classify groups of free-living people into consumers of dietary profiles associated with lower or higher non-communicable disease risk based on multivariate metabolite patterns. This approach enables objective monitoring of dietary patterns in population settings and enhances validity of dietary reporting. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Medical Research Council (MRC)