East Stoke: The Archaeology of the Old Church of St Mary

This is the second of two reports relating to research and fieldwork at the site of the Old Church of St Mary, East Stoke (see Hewitt, Russell and Manley 2009). These investigations were undertaken in conjunction with the East Stoke Heritage and Archaeological Group. This paper presents the results of limited non-intrusive archaeological fieldwork

An evaluation of some commercially-available thin TiO2 films and TiO2 films grown by atomic layer deposition for potential photocatalytic applications

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) was utilized to synthesize nominally undoped titanium dioxide (TiO2) and a range of doped TiO2 films (Ti1-xO2:Mx) on quartz substrates, separately accommodating aluminium, gallium, hafnium, silver, tin and vanadium as nanolaminate dopants. The synthesized TiO2 and Ti1-xO2:Mx films provided varying photocatalytic activities dependent on differing degrees of crystalline morphology, Ti3+ concentrations and dopant used. Nominally undoped TiO2 was mainly amorphous, showing only minimal evidence of polycrystalline anatase structures and contained around 20 % Ti3+, providing a time to bleach (ttb) of 11 minutes 4 seconds ±35 seconds with respect to basic blue ink. In comparison to the nominally undoped TiO2 film, only the Ti1-xO2:Agx (19:1) and Ti1- xO2:Snx (19:1) films provided any photocatalytic improvement, recording basic blue 66 ink ttb values of 6 minutes 4 seconds and 5 minutes 12 seconds ±1 minute 13 seconds, respectively. This near halving of the ttb previously observed for the nominally undoped TiO2 film, probably originated from higher bulk Ti3+ concentrations (52 and 31 %) for the Ti1-xO2:Agx and Ti1-xO2:Snx films, respectively. Additionally, a novel approach was utilized, through which the effect of Irish hospital cleaning agents (Actichlor PlusTM, ChloraPrepTM, SteriCleanTM, and Virusolve+TM) on the photocatalytic activity of both the commercially available Pilkington ActivTM and ALDgrown Ti1-xO2:Snx films was examined. On different cleaning agent treatment, the photocatalytic activity of both films was found to decrease in respect to basic blue 66 and resazurin ink photodegradation, as well as increasing water contact angle hydrophobicity under UV light irradiation. However, the permanent damage to photocatalytic activity decrease was not incremental after multiple treatments for the non-residue creating cleaning agents (SteriCleanTM and Virusolve+TM) and cleaning agent treatment was shown to not mechanically degrade film morphology. Furthermore, both the Pilkington ActivTM and Ti1-xO2:Snx films showed inconclusive results for microbiological exposure with a complex interplay between E.coli colony attachment and photocatalytic destruction detected

Analysis of the flavonoid component of bioactive New Zealand mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) honey and the isolation, characterisation and synthesis of an unusual pyrrole

The flavonoid components of New Zealand mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) honey have been quantified in a series of 31 honeys of varying non-peroxide antibacterial activity to clarify discrepancies between previous studies reported in the literature. Total flavonoid content was 1.16 mg/100 g honey. The principal flavonoids present were pinobanksin, pinocembrin, luteolin and chrysin and together these represented 61% of the total flavonoid content. 1, 2-formyl-5-(2-methoxyphenyl)-pyrrole, which was weakly correlated with the non-peroxide antibacterial activity, was isolated from the flavonoid fraction and separately synthesised. 1 did not display inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus in vitro and thus the origin of the correlation, which is still unknown, is not a direct contribution

Two portraits of Agrippa Postumus in the British Museum

Two damaged and partially restored Roman portraits in the collection of the British Museum, previously identified as being either the emperor Caligula or an unknown “JulioClaudian prince,” are here reassessed and identified as Agrippa Postumus, the youngest grandson and adopted heir of Augustus. The first portrait, from southern Britain, may have come from a temple dedicated to the worship of the Julio-Claudian house, while the second was probably part of an equestrian group standing outside the Aedes Castoris in Rome. This is a significant reinterpretation, providing potential evidence not only for links between Rome’s first family and the rulers of a distant client kingdom, but also for the framing of imperial power and the uncertain nature of the Augustan succession in the early years of the 1st c. C