Computer programmes for the correction of matrix effects in the XRF analysis of glass,ceramics and related silicate systems

The quantitative analysis of glass, ceramics and related silicate systems by means of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry is considered and problems arising from the selective absorption of X-rays in multi-element specimens are discussed. A computer programme written in FORTRAN and based upon a “semi-fundamental parameters” approach to the correction of matrix effects in glass and chemically similar materials is fully described. Model data are provided to enable the programme to be run and tested. An “empirical coefficients” computer programme for the quantitative analysis of silicate systems is outlined and the limitations of this type of programme are pointed out. The importance of adequate sample preparation prior to X-ray spectrometric analysis is stressed.     

TRACES OF ANCIENT COLOURS ON TRAJAN'S COLUMN*

Recent restorations of Trajan's Column uncovered two marble fragments bearing traces of pigments, bright red (minium, hematite) in one case, and yellowish-orange (minium, hematite, clay minerals) in the other. Both were applied to the marble surface on a plaster underlayer. The presence of an underlayer and of surfaces coloured according to subject tells us that the colours were applied deliberately. Although the use of minium plus hematite is confirmed by archaeological finds, there is only a good probability that the colours were applied on the column at the time of its completion.     

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND PRESERVATION OF AN EGYPTIAN SILVER VASE (300–200 BC)*

An Egyptian metal vase from the Ptolemaic period was investigated metallurgically and fractographically. The metal is nearly pure silver. Despite its high purity (in archaeological terms) it is severely embrittled and cracked, mainly along grain boundaries. Factors contributing to this damage are work-hardening and residual microstructural deformation (slip and twinning), corrosion along slip lines and twin boundaries, corrosion in bauds that are the remains of coring, large equiaxed grains, externally applied forces and internal residual stresses. The metal is now friable. This must be taken into account during any further restoration of the vase: a procedure is suggested.     

NEW ARCHAEOMAGNETIC STUDIES NEAR XI'AN,CHINA*

Archaeomagnetic and mineral magnetic studies were made of known-age samples from fired structures and sediments from archaeological sites near Xi'an, China. The fired materials retained a stable record of the direction of the past geomagnetic field, which compared well with previous investigations and could contribute to an archaeomagnetic calibration curve. However, discrepancies with documented observations of the field were noted.     

CAMPANIAN POTTERY FROM ANCIENT BRUTTIUM (SOUTHERN ITALY): SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF LOCAL AND IMPORTED PRODUCTS*

One hundred and fifty-seven sherds of Campanian pottery were analysed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and flame emission spectroscopy (FES). The sherds were found in the course of archaeological excavations carried out at the sites of Sibari, Cosenza, Crotone, Locri, Reggio and Oppido Mamertina in southern Italy (ancient Bruttium, today Calabria). Analyses were carried out on dissolved samples, determining 15 elements per sample (Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Ti, Mn, Sr, Ba, Cr, Cu, Y, La and Sc by ICP-OES, and Na and K by FES). Analytical data were subject to multivariate statistical treatment by hierarchical cluster analysis and principal components analysis. Results indicated different compositional groups, allowing one to separate suspected imports from Campania, Etruria and Sicily from each other and from likely local products. The latter could be further classified into different groups, comprising imitations of foreign forms as well as original local products.     

Reviews

The Irish Ringfort Matthew Stout, 1997 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp. 160, ISBN 1.8518.1200.X, £19.95 (hb)

A Shorter Illustrated History of Ulster Jonathan Bardon, 1996 Belfast, Blackstaff Press pp. 336, ISBN 0.8564.0586.8, £14.99 (pb)

Belfast Merchant Families in the Seventeenth Century Jean Agnew, 1996 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp. 256, ISBN 1.8518.2251.8, £25.00 (hb)

The Civil Wars in Britain and Ireland, 1638–1651 Martyn Bennett, 1997 Oxford, Blackwell pp.472, ISBN 0.6311.9154.2, £55.00 (hb); ISBN 0.6311.91550, £15.99 (pb)

Parties, Patriots and Undertakers: Parliamentary Politics in early Hanoverian Ireland Patrick Mcnally, 1997 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp.240, ISBN 1.8518.2255.0, £30.00 (hb)

Edmund Burke: His Life and Legacy Ian Crowe (ed.), 1997 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp. 228, ISBN 1.8518.2306.9, £35.00 (hb)

The Irish Charter Schools, 1730–1830 Kenneth Milne, 1997 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp. 450, ISBN 1.8518.2232.1, £35.00 (hb)

The Tree of Liberty: Radicalism, Catholicism and the Construction of Irish Identity 1760–1830 Kevin Whelan, 1996 Cork, Cork University Press pp. 240, ISBN 1.8591.8060.4, £14.95 (pb)

The Royal Irish Constabulary: A Short History and Genealogical Guide Jim Herlihy, 1997 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp.256, ISBN 1.8518.2337.9, £39.50 (hb); ISBN 1.8518.2337.9, £14.95 (pb)

Unionist Politics and the Politics of Unionism since the Anglo‐Irish Agreement Fergal Cochrane, 1997 Cork, Cork University Press pp.440, ISBN 1.8591.8138.4, £45 (hb); ISBN 1.8591.2, £17.95 (pb)

Bonfires on the Hillside: An Eyewitness Account of Political Upheaval in Northern Ireland James Kelly, 1995 Belfast, Fountain Publishing pp. 229, ISBN 0.9525.5650.2, £2.95 (pb)

The New York Irish Ronald H. Bayor & Timothy J. Meagher (eds), 1996 Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press pp.744, ISBN 0.8018.5199.8, £37.00 (hb); ISBN 0.8018.5764.3, £21.50 (pb)

The Irish Experience in New York City: A Select Bibliography Ann M. Shea & Marion R. Casey, 1995 New York, New York Irish History Roundtable pp. 130, ISBN 0.8156.8121.6, US$ 29.95 (hb)

Dracula: A Norton Critical Edition Nina Auerbach & David J. Skal (eds), 1997 New York, W.W. Norton pp. 492, ISBN 0.3939.7012.4, £6.95 (pb)

The Un‐Dead: The Legend of Bram Stoker and Dracula Peter Haining & Peter Tremayne, 1997 London, Constable pp. 199, ISBN 0.0947.5430.6, £16.95 (hb)

The Mammoth Book of Dracula Stephen Jones (ed.), 1997 London, Robinson Publishing pp. 512, ISBN 1.8548.7520.5, £6.99 (pb)

James Joyce: Ulysses Vincent Sherry, 1997 Cambridge, Cambridge University Press pp. 141, ISBN 0.5214.2075.X, £19.95 (hb); ISBN 0.5214.2136.5, £7.95 (pb)

The Word According to James Joyce: Reconstructing Representation Cordell D. K. Yee, 1997 Lewisburg, Pa. Bucknell University Press/ London, Associated University Press pp. 176, ISBN 8387.5330.2, £30.00 (hb)

Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett James Knowlson, 1996 London, Bloomsbury pp. 872, ISBN 0.7475.2719.9, £25 (hb)

Samuel Beckett: The Last Modernist Anthony Cronin, 1996 London, HarperCollins pp.645, ISBN 0.2461.3769.X, £25.00 (hb); ISNB 0.5860.9076.2, £8.99 (pb)

Beckett: The Irish Dimension Mary Junker, 1995 Dublin, Wolfhound pp. 190, ISBN 0.8632.7384.X, £27.50 (hb)

Thomas Kinsella Donatella Abbate Badin, 1996 New York, Twayne pp. 226, ISBN 0.8057.7047.X

Bearing Witness: Essays on Anglo‐Irish Literature Augustine Martin (anthony Roche ed.), 1996 Dublin, University College Dublin Press pp. 259+xx, ISBN 1 9006.21 0 1.0, £25.95 (hb); ISBN 1.9006.2102.9, £15.95 (pb)

Twentieth‐Century Irish Drama: Mirror up to Nation Christopher Murray, 1997 Manchester, Manchester University Press pp.288, ISBN 0.7190.4156.2, £35.00 (hb); ISBN 0.7190.4157.0, £12.99 (pb)

The Irish Play on the New York Stage, 1874–1966 John D. Harrington, 1997 Lexington, Ky., University Press of Kentucky pp. 179, ISBN 0.8131.2033.0, US$ 27.95 (hb)

The Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (Vol. 2, No. 2, 1996) Osilla Bertha (ed.), 1996 Debrecen, Kossuth Lajas University Press pp. 182, ISSN 1218.7364, US$ 15.00

Die Musik Irlands im 20. Jahrhundert (Irish Music in the 20th Century) Axel Klein, 1996 Hildesheim, George Olms Verlag pp. 526, ISBN 3.4871.0196.3, with Music Examples, Bibliography, and Discography DM 98 (hb)

Here's Looking at You, Kid! Ireland goes to the pictures STEPHANIE MCBRIDE and RODDY FLYNN (eds), 1996 Dublin,Wolfhoundpp. 138, ISBN 0.8632.7556.7, £9.99 (pb)

Wilde Director, Brian Gilbert Screenplay by Julian Mitchell Samuelson/Polygram, 1997     

A Covering Tour Model for Planning Mobile Health Care Facilities in SuhumDistrict, Ghama

The provision of adequate primary health care in developing countries is often troublesome. The problem is to provide a sufficient number of facilities to be geographically accessible, yet few enough to be properly stocked and staffed. In many less developed countries accessibility problems are exacerbated by extensive rainy seasons in which travel is only possible on paved roads. Using the covering tour model we investigate the use of mobile facilities to resolve this dilemma in Suhum District, Ghana. The model minimizes a mobile facility's travel while serving all population centers within range of a feasible stop. Computational results show that in the rainy season the model cannot provide full coverage; over six percent of the population is beyond a covering distance of eight kilometers. In the dry season, 99 percent of the population can be served by a tour at a covering distance of seven kilometers.Beyond a distance of four kilometers, the dry season problem becomes a trade-off between the distance traveled by healthcare patrons and mobile facilities. These results illustrate the importance of flexibility of mobile systems: if accessibility cannot be provided in all seasons it may still be provided at favorable times of the year.