Geological exploration of South Atlantic islands and its contributions to the continental drift debate of the early 20th century

The geological character of the South Atlantic islands was only slowly established during the first half of the 20th century. That same period was marked by a generally dismissive view of continental drift but, as the continental nature of the islands became apparent, their ‘oceanic’ setting was utilised by both sides of the ‘drift’ debate to support their respective positions. So islands such as the Falklands archipelago and South Georgia were cited either as fragments detached from larger continental bodies during drift, or as the last surviving vestiges of a huge continental landmass that had subsided beneath the water of the South Atlantic. The appreciation of the Scotia Arc as a dynamic geological construct arising from lateral tectonics, and the Falkland Islands as representative of an itinerant continental fragment, were features of some early accounts of the region, but such ideas were generally discounted by the geological establishment of the day. This paper reviews the early, pioneering contributions to the geological understanding of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Scotia Arc region, assessing their contemporary reception and tracing their influence on the developing continental drift controversy. Though commonly dismissed or ignored at the time, many of the ‘pro-drift’ ideas expressed were subsequently rediscovered by proponents of plate tectonics as that revolution swept through geology in the late 1960s

Robert McCormick's geological collections from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, 1839–1843

Robert McCormick (1800–1890) took part in three mid-nineteenth-century British Polar expeditions, two to the Arctic and one to the Antarctic. The latter, from 1839 to 1843 and led by James Clark Ross, is the best known. McCormick served as senior surgeon on HMS Erebus and was responsible for the collection of zoological and geological specimens. Despite the novelty and potential scientific importance of these early geological collections from Antarctica and remote islands in the Southern Ocean, they received surprisingly little attention at the time. Ross deposited an official collection with the British Museum in 1844, soon after the expedition's return, and this was supplemented by McCormick's personal collection, bequeathed in 1890. McCormick had contributed brief and idiosyncratic geological notes to the expedition report published by Ross in 1847, but it was not until 1899 that an informed description of the Antarctic rocks was published, and only in 1921 were McCormick's palaeobotanical specimens from Kerguelen examined. His material from other Southern Ocean islands received even less attention; had it been utilized at the time it would have supplemented the better-known collections made by the likes of Charles Darwin. In later life, McCormick became increasingly embittered over the lack of recognition afforded to him for his work in the Polar regions. Despite that contemporary neglect, his collections from the Ross Antarctic expedition provide unique insight into the geological work of nineteenth-century British naval surgeons

Control of poultry lice and mites

Caption title.At head of title: A wartime publication.Digitized 2006 AES MoU."April, 1942.""A wartime publication.""Missouri is one of the foremost states in the production of eggs and dressed poultry. This production, however, is considerably reduced each year, due to the parasitic work of poultry lice and mites. The following brief report has been prepared to assist farmers and poultry men at this time in increasing their production of poultry products by more effectively controlling these pests."--Page 1

Variation in patient pathways and hospital admissions for exacerbations of COPD: linking the National COPD Audit with CPRD data

The aim of this thesis was to link secondary care data from a UK national audit of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care with primary care data from a database of UK electronic health records (EHRs) to explore how variations in patient pathways through healthcare across England affect hospital admissions for acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD). This aim was achieved through 6 objectives: (i) a systematic review of the literature on validation of AECOPD definitions in EHRs; (ii) determination of predictors of referral to pulmonary rehabilitation from general practice; (iii) a comparison of the quality of COPD primary care in each UK country, as currently only Wales is assessed; (iv) determination of whether the COPD Best Practice Tariff (BPT) pay-for-performance scheme improves patient outcomes; (v) assessment of the utility of NEWS2 as a severity score measure in AECOPD admissions; (vi) linkage of secondary care audit data with primary care EHR data to explore how management of patients with COPD affects AECOPD hospital admissions. A summary of the key results is as follows. Firstly, although few studies have validated AECOPD definitions, a validated AECOPD definition was found in a systematic search of the literature that could be used in subsequent objectives. Secondly. while generally appropriate patients appear to be prioritised for PR referral, women were less likely to be considered for referral than men. Thirdly, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland had substantially lower proportions of patients with confirmed airways obstruction and referrals to pulmonary rehabilitation than Wales. This suggests that completing primary care audits solely in Wales is leading to improvements in, at least, the recording of care that are not happening in the rest of the UK. Fourthly, the combination of interventions financially incentivised by the COPT BPT were not associated with an improvement in 30-day mortality or readmission. One component of the BPT, specialist review, was associated with 31% lower odds of inpatient mortality. Fifthly, NEWS2 was a poor predictor of length of hospital stay, requirement for NIV, and inpatient mortality, with AUC values of 0.7 or less for each outcome. Sixth and finally, 80% of patients admitted for AECOPD had contact with their GP in the 2 weeks prior to admission, suggesting that these admissions could not have been avoided. 86% of admissions were clinically appropriate. Contact with primary care did not appear to affect admission appropriateness. Receipt of a discharge care bundle was associated with receipt of best practice care, however this association appeared to derive from already having received those items of care in secondary care. Power was limited in the final analyses making it difficult to draw firm conclusions, however COPD discharge care bundles do not appear to be leading to improvements in key patient outcomes.Open Acces

A perspective on social science data management

Der Aufsatz behandelt die Leistungsfähigkeit der vorhandenen Software-Pakete, die für die Sozialwissenschaften angeboten werden. Die Datenformate erfassen nur zwei von einem Dutzend möglichen und notwendigen Formaten für die Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung. Dieses mangelhafte Angebot behindert die Entwicklung der Sozialforschung. In einer Einzelkritik werden die Forschungen im Rahmen des "database management systems" (DBMS) und die Arbeit des CODASYL Programming Language Committee kritisiert. (BG

Death, Dying and Dark Tourism in Contemporary Society: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

Despite increasing academic and media attention paid to dark tourism – the act of travel to sites of death, disaster and the seemingly macabre – understanding of the concept remains limited, particularly from a consumption perspective. That is, the literature focuses primarily on the supply of dark tourism. Less attention, however, has been paid to the consumption of ‘dark’ touristic experiences and the mediation of such experiences in relation to modern-day mortality. This thesis seeks to address this gap in the literature. Drawing upon thanatological discourse – that is, the analysis of society’s perceptions of and reactions to death and dying – the research objective is to explore the potential of dark tourism as a means of contemplating mortality in (Western) societies. In so doing, the thesis appraises dark tourism consumption within society, especially within a context of contemporary perspectives of death and, consequently, offers an integrated theoretical and empirical critical analysis and interpretation of death-related travel. The study adopts a phenomenological approach and a multiple case studies design with integrative and complementary methods of covert participation observation, semi-structure interviews (n = 64) and survey research (n = 419), as well as a focus group and a diarist account. As a result, the thesis explores the fundamental interrelationships between visitors and sites that offer a representation of death. In particular, the research examines these relationships at Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum & Memorial (Oświęcim, Poland), WTC Tribute Visitor Centre at Ground Zero (New York), Body Worlds exhibition at the O2 Arena (London), and the Dungeon visitor attractions (York and London). The research finds that in a contemporary secular age where ordinary and normal death is sequestered behind medical and professional façades, yet abnormal and extraordinary death is recreated for popular consumption, dark tourism plays a mediating role between life and death. Ultimately, therefore, the thesis argues that dark tourism is a (new) mediating institution within secularised death sequestered societies, which not only provides a physical place to link the living with the dead, but also allows the Self to construct contemporary meanings of mortality, and to reflect and contemplate both life and death through consuming the Significant Other Dead

Consuming dark tourism: A Thanatological Perspective

Despite increasing academic attention paid to dark tourism, understanding of the concept remains limited, particularly from a consumption perspective. That is, the literature focuses primarily on the supply of dark tourism; less attention, however, has been paid to the demand for ‘dark’ touristic experiences. This theoretical paper seeks to address this gap in the literature. Drawing upon the contemporary sociology of death, it explores the relationship between socio-cultural perspectives on mortality and the potential of dark tourism as a means of confronting death in modern societies. In so doing, it proposes a model of dark tourism consumption within a thanatological framework as a basis for further theoretical and empirical analysis of dark tourism