Boxing Day Research Articles

To suffer is to be human

Daniel Allen’s column in the wake of the natural disaster in the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day is a gem (perspectives January 12). Not only does it throw much-needed light on the politics involved in our health these days (especially in the health promotion movement), but it also contains a much more profound message about our humanity. His question – ‘Where is the morality in putting the often self-inflicted health needs of comparatively privileged UK patients above those of the victims of one of the biggest natural disasters in living memory?’ – goes to the nub of the matter.

Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure Investment

rivate participation in the provision of infrastructure is less than was once expected, particularly in developing countries. Some reasons for this are identified in this paper. It is argued that the problem of dealing with market power in the provision of infrastructure services is similar to that of other forms of procurement in the presence of long-lived and immobile assets employed specifically to produce an item or service. From this perspective, comments are offered on the inhibitors to private participation and on features of contract design that might limit impediments to private investment in this sector. P The financing required for infrastructure services in East Asia and the Pacific over the next five years was recently estimated at over US$300 billion, with the bulk of this needed in China (see van der Linden, 2004). The figure will now be even larger following the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. The construction of new assets and the renewal of existing assets are both required. With private sector support, these tasks could be met more efficiently. Yet flows of private investment into the infrastructure sectors of developing countries peaked in 1997 and have declined ever since — the turning point explained in part by the Asian financial crisis (Harris, 2003). There has also been a high rate of renegotiation of contracts, suggesting that the structure of the arrangements has been an important contributor to the reconsideration by private investors of these types of projects. Harris (2003) refers to a ‘widespread pessimism’ about private infrastructure projects. Some of the issues in the provision of infrastructure services, including the risk of the abuse of market power and the value of separation around the key bottleneck element in the supply of infrastructure services, are reviewed in the next section. How the private sector might contract with the government is then examined and the case for a complementary relationship between regulatory institutions and the use of contracts is made. Options are presented for the operation of the regulatory process, with special attention to rules on price setting. The final section summarises some implications for designing policy on private sector participation in infrastructure, with particular attention to the situation in developing countries.

2004 Boxing Day Tsunami

This issue of Microbiology Australia focuses on the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and the experiences of those directly involved in the initial response and in the assessment, clinical care, laboratory support and public health responses. The contributions reflect the experiences of professionals from different disciplines who describe their role in this event. The varied perspectives provide a context for the laboratory contribution.

Geomorphological evolution of Montserrat (West Indies): importance of flank collapse and erosional processes

Analysis of topography and new swath bathymetry as well as geophysical data provides information about aerial and submarine morphological features and mass transfer processes on Montserrat. The island has a characteristic shallow (<100 m) submarine shelf, interpreted as having been formed through erosion with a depth controlled by glacio-eustatic sea-level variation. Several debris avalanche deposits are identified on the lower submarine flanks of Soufrière Hills volcano, and there is evidence of lateral collapses at the older volcanic centres. The morphological evolution of Montserrat is interpreted in terms of three stages. The first stage comprises submarine growth. The second stage, subaerial growth, is represented by the active South Soufrière Hills–Soufrière Hills volcanic centre. During the current eruption of Soufrière Hills volcano (1995–2002) more than half of the lava erupted was transported into the sea. Flank collapses occurred several times during this stage, such as the English's Crater event ( c . 4000 years ago) or the Boxing Day event during the current eruption (26 December 1997). Montserrat's older volcanic centres, the Centre Hills and Silver Hills, illustrate the third stage of evolution, extinction and erosion. Magma production, long-term erosion and total sedimentation rates on Montserrat have been estimated as 0.17 km 3 ka − 1 , 0.0125 km 3 ka − 1 and 0.11 km 3 ka − 1 (i.e. 1.1 cm ka − 1 ), respectively.

Effects of organic acid pretreatment on the structure and pyrolysis reactivity of coals

Following the 2004 ‘Boxing day’ tsunami, a determination has been made of the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in beach sand samples which have been collected from various locations along the Andaman coast of the Thai peninsula. Use has been made of a HPGe detector-based, low-background gamma-ray counting system. The natural radioactivity levels of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K measured from these samples was found to lie in the range 1.6–52.5, 0.3–73.9and 2.8–1111.9 Bq/kg respectively for the west coast and 3.5–83.1, 4.5–42.0, and 9.6–1376 Bq/kg respectively for the east coast. The radioactivity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K along the Andaman coast are comparable to that of the east coast, which was not exposed to the tsunami. The corresponding annual effective dose varies from 1.6–105.9 μSv/y with a mean value of 59.1±0.3 μSv/y, significantly lower than the worldwide average as reported by United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) (2000).

The 26 December (Boxing Day) 1997 sector collapse and debris avalanche at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat

Abstract The southern sector of Soufrière Hills Volcano failed on 26 December 1997 (Boxing Day), after a year of disturbance culminating in a devastating eruptive episode. Sector collapse produced a c. 50 x 10 6 m 3 volcanic debris avalanche, and depressurized the interior of the lava dome, which exploded to generate a violent pyroclastic density current. The south-directed growth of a lava lobe and build-up of lava-block talus, since early November 1997, brought the hydrothermally weakened sector to a condition of marginal stability. Limit-equilibrium stability analyses and finite-difference stress-deformation analyses, constrained by geomechanical testing of edifice and debris avalanche materials, suggest that the sector collapse was triggered by a pulse of co-seismic exogenous lava shear-lobe emplacement. Slip-surface localization was influenced by strain-weakening. The source region fragmented into avalanche megablocks, and further disruption generated a chaotic avalanche mixture that included variably indurated and coloured hydrothermally altered material, and much talus. The avalanche consisted of several flow pulses that reflected complexities of source disruption and channel topography. In the proximal zone, within 1.5 km from source, many megablocks preserve pre-collapse stratigraphy. At major bends the avalanche separated into channelled and overspill flows. In the distal region, <2.5km from source, stacked sets of the main lithologies occur with a hummocky surface and abrupt flowage snouts, beyond which sparse hummocks occur in a thinly spread deposit. Textures suggest emplacement by laminar mass transport of partly saturated debris riding on a frictionally sheared base. Three-dimensional numerical simulations of emplacement governed by a Coulomb-type (Pouliquen) basal friction law imply low values of friction (> 15°), consistent with geotechnical test data and the localized presence of pore-water pressures. The best-fit model suggests an emplacement time >3 minutes and a typical maximum velocity of about 40ms _1 , which are consistent with field estimates.

Dynamics of volcanic and meteorological clouds produced on 26 December (Boxing Day) 1997 at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat

Abstract The 26 December 1997 explosive activity of Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat, provided an opportunity to study the evolution of a volcanic cloud by merging data from various satellites with wind-trajectory data. The activity involved a debris avalanche that descended SSW from the lava dome, to the coast, and a pyroclastic density current that traversed the coast and entered the sea. The slope failure and subsequent dome collapse occurred at c . 07:01 universal time (UT; 03:01 local time), lasted 15.2 minutes, and produced an upwardly convecting volcanic ash cloud that cloud temperatures suggest rose to c . 15 km. The volcanic ash cloud was unusual because the pyroclastic density current transported hot fine ash to the sea, where it rapidly transferred its heat to the sea water. The evaporation of large volumes of water produced a volcanogenic meteorological (VM) cloud that convected along with the volcanic ash cloud. The evolution of the volcanic and VM clouds was studied using an isentropic wind trajectory model and data from three satellite sensors: Geostationary Observational Environmental Satellite 8 (GOES 8), Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). The high temporal resolution of the GOES 8 images filled many of the time gaps the other satellites left, and allowed quantitative retrievals to be performed using a two-band infrared retrieval method. The three-dimensional morphology of the volcanic cloud was reconstructed using GOES 8 data and by determining the heights of air parcels from wind-trajectory data. The volcanic cloud was estimated to contain up to 4.5 x 10 7 kg of silicate ash. Between c . 07:39 UT and 13:39 UT the ash signal of the volcanic cloud was masked by the VM cloud, which had a mass of up to 1.5 x 10 8 kg of ice. Ice forms when moist air is convected upwards to temperatures of less than -40°C and becomes saturated. Ice formation in volcanic clouds is especially likely when hot volcanic material is cooled by seawater rather than the atmosphere. The efficiency of evaporation of the seawater was calculated to be c . 5%, based on physical and GOES 8 data. TOMS data showed the SO 2 in the volcanic cloud rose higher than the ash in the volcanic cloud, as has occurred in several other eruptions. A comparison between GOES 8 and AVHRR data showed that AVHRR data retrieved higher fine-ash silicate masses and higher cloud areas than GOES 8 due to the finer spatial resolution of AVHRR images. The effect on retrieval data of the high water vapour content in the lower troposphere of the tropical atmosphere was quantified; the high humidity in the Montserrat region caused the characteristic ash signal to the infrared sensors to be depressed by up to 80%. This signal depression caused a corresponding underestimation of the mass and area of the volcanic cloud when the infrared brightness temperature difference retrieval technique was used.

Generation of a debris avalanche and violent pyroclastic density current on 26 December (Boxing Day) 1997 at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat

Abstract Growth of an andesitic lava dome at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, beginning in November 1995, caused instability of a hydrothermally altered flank of the volcano. Catastrophic failure occurred on 26 December 1997, 14 months after the instability was first recognized. Two months before failure a dome lobe had extruded over the unstable area and by 25 December 1997 this had a volume of 113 x 10 6 m 3 . At 03:01 (local time) the flank rocks and some dome talus failed and generated a debris avalanche (volume 46 x 10 6 m 3 ). Between 35 and 45 x 10 6 m 3 of the dome then collapsed, generating a violent pyroclastic density current that devastated 10 km 2 of southern Montserrat. The failure of the flank and dome formed two adjacent bowl-shaped collapse depressions. The most intense activity lasted about 11.6 minutes. The hummocky debris avalanche deposit is composed of a mixture of domains of heterolithic breccia. The pyroclastic density current had an estimated peak velocity of 80-90 ms -1 , and minimum flux of 10 8 kgs 1 . The current was largely erosional on land with most deposition out at sea. Destructive effects included removal of houses, trees and large vehicles, and formation of a scoured surface blackened by a thin (3-4 mm) layer of tar. Two discrete depositional units formed from the pyroclastic density current, each with a lower coarse-grained layer and an upper fine-grained stratified layer. These deposits are overlain by an ashfall layer related to buoyant lofting of the current. Flank failure is attributed to loading of hydrothermally weakened rocks by the dome. The generation of the pyroclastic density current is attributed to failure and explosive disintegration of the dome, involving release and violent expansion of gases initially at high pore pressures.

The Australian Boxing Day Storm of 1998—Synoptic Description and Numerical Simulations

An intense low pressure system formed in the Bass Strait region of southeastern Australia during the Boxing Day long weekend of 25‐28 December 1998. The explosive development of this low commenced on 26 December (Boxing Day) and reached peak intensity on 27 December 1998 with mean wind speeds reported in the 50‐60kt range. The event is referred to, for simplicity, as the Boxing Day storm. There are three objectives of this study. The first is to highlight the rarity of this type of storm during the Australian summer period and to investigate the potential of high-resolution numerical models to distinguish such storm events [winds 48 kt or greater (25 m s21)] from the less destructive and more common gale force (34‐47 kt or 17.5‐24 m s21) wind speed producing systems. A brief climatology of intense low pressure systems in the region underlines how unusual this system was. The second objective is to investigate the ability of available operational and research-mode global and regional numerical models to provide accurate and reliable advance warning of this major development. With the exception of a locally run high-resolution (10 km) limited area model, run in real-time research mode, all failed to depict accurately the storm force winds associated with this system in the 48-h time frame critical for operational warnings. However, most did predict gale force winds. The success of the locally run higher-resolution model over the lower-resolution models (50 km or greater) provided the motivation to investigate further how limited area models of increased resolution and complexity can assist in the operational prediction of extreme cyclogenesis events in a 48-h time frame. A 13-hPa improvement over the other models in the prediction of the central pressure of the system, accompanied by a significant area of surface mean wind speeds in excess of 50 kt (26 m s21), were achieved. The importance of horizontal model resolution in accurately depicting key wind speed thresholds with sufficient lead time for operational forecast and warning purposes was illustrated. Another critical aspect of the forecast problem, consistency, was then demonstrated through the ability of the model to predict successfully these key meteorological parameters in successive model runs. The third objective of this study is to understand the role of various dynamical and thermodynamical parameters in the development of the low. This is achieved by a series of model sensitivity studies, investigating the contributions of sea surface temperature structure, surface fluxes, jet streak resolution, cumulus convection, and topography, that were then conducted. Impacts on the finescale structure of the midlatitude cyclone were detected for the first three impact studies, with cumulus convection having a lower impact. Topography was found to have little effect on the critical features of the low for this maritime development.

The 1999 Boxing Day low — some remarkable pressure tendencies

The 1999 Boxing Day low — some remarkable pressure tendencies

Shawshank redemption

We all have an image of prison, some pictures of prisoners and imprisonment. My first experience of prison was as a teenager at my girlfriend's house opposite Long Bay goal. It must have been in the early 1970's, although I can't recall exactly when. It was Christmas time, possibly Christmas Day or Boxing Day. We were sitting on the front lawn drinking beer. I remember the burning and choking sensation of tear gas mixing with the hot summer air, and the family moving inside the house and closing the doors and windows. Her brother said there must be a riot at the goal. And he proceeded to tell stories about prisoners running down the street in front of the house, trying to take off their prison clothes as they ran.

Anatomy of a complaint

It may seem a long time ago but the events of 26 December 1992 will remain etched in my memory for a long time. On Boxing Day evening I received a request for telephone advice from a husband worried about his wife. I decided to visit, took a history, performed a physical examination, and gave treatment and advice. When I returned to work I was shocked to hear that Mrs X had died on 28 December 1992 following admission to hospital by my partner the day before. My emotions were mixed and multiple: shock, sympathy, fear - fear of a mistake, fear of a complaint. I mentally tortured myself that evening reliving the events of that day. Did I make the right decision? Could I have done more? Why didn't I admit her to hospital? Racked with guilt I began to expect rumblings of discontent from the family, questioning from the family, or even a complaint. Over the next two weeks I tried, with little success, to put the matter out of my mind until my partner called me to her surgery. Three uncompromising family members reeled off a battery of questions. I was ill prepared and failed to satisfy the family by justifying my actions. Notes were taken and a declaration made that they were dissatisfied and that they would take the matter further. I pondered, trembling. What does this mean? What will happen next? Logic overtook me, there was nothing more I could do except await events. The months passed ... February, March, April ... My confidence began …

The Historiography of European Linked Sword Dancing

One of the most widespread and dramatic styles of folk dance performance throughout much of Europe over the past six centuries has been sword dancing, specifically the linked styles—often called “hilt and point” or “chain” sword dances—which were first reported in the late Middle Ages and are still practiced in a number of countries. In these dance styles, a group of dancers, normally ranging from four or five up to twenty-odd, moves through various figures, minimally lines and circles but often using very complex and demanding movements. The dancers are connected to one another by swords, or sword-like implements of metal or wood, which they usually hold with the hilt in their right hands and the point of the next dancer's sword in their left. The dancers have traditionally been men or boys, often members of a guild or profession, or in rural areas, the men of a parish or district.The dances are usually presented in the winter, most often during Carnival time or Shrovetide in much of northern and central Europe, or on Boxing Day or Plough Monday in England. But they might also take place on a local patron saint's feast day or other popular holiday. In Spain and Portugal the dances have been performed at Corpus Christi, in the summer. In many countries they have been presented to entertain royalty, wealthy tourists, folklore collectors, or other distinguished audiences. Particular speeches, songs, or short dramas have sometimes been associated with these dances. It has not been uncommon for a piece of mock combat to take place, perhaps with a fencing scene. A dramatic moment in some dances comes when the swords are locked or laid together. They then can be displayed in a star shape to the audience; used as a platform for a performer to stand on; or placed around a performer's neck, for an “execution”, sometimes followed by a “resurrection.” Nonetheless, the emphasis and originality of this style of dancing lies in the linked movements of the dancers, connected by their swords.

Merrie England and the Morris 1881–1910

DURING these three decades, 1881 to 1910, the use of the word 'Morris' could have conjured up several different kinds of image. Curiously enough, the least likely of these to come to mind would have been a version of what we might term the 'real' village morris, the kind of thing that Keith Chandler has recently dealt with so capably.' Far more probably the image would have been of what we might call 'Merrie England' morris, whether it was an abstract literary concept deriving from the antiquarian's study, or an entertaining diversion at the theatre. Then, from 1906, there came the competing revival movements of Mary Neal and Cecil Sharp, drawing their inspiration from both these sources, and combining reality and romance in different ways. Finally, for us today, there is the fact that Sharp's vision of the morris came to dominate the revival so completely that it is difficult to have a clear perspective of what was there before him. It is not surprising that a certain amount of confusion has arisen concerning the character of the morris during this period, and about the general background of the revival. My aim to day is to dispel some of the confusion by giving an account of 'Merrie England' morris during these years. In doing this I hope that we may gain a further benefit, namely a better understanding of what the term 'Morris' would have meant to reasonably well-educated people of the period. In particular I want to focus on what the word would have meant for Cecil Sharp. By reading Keith Chandler's pages we can better understand what it was that Sharp encountered when he met the Headington Quarry Morris Men for the first time on Boxing Day 1899. I am now concerned to look more closely at the other side of the matter, that is, to examine what Sharp might have taken to the encounter in terms of cultural presuppositions. Time and space impose certain limitations, I can omit a preliminary discussion of the idea of Merrie England, since I dealt with this two years ago in the context of May Day, but I am sorry not to be able to give an introductory survey of earlier theatrical morris.2 It is also a pity not to include the fascinating story of how Sharp's vision of the morris developed to its maturity. However, this article may be seen, I hope, as a preliminary step to a proper understanding of Sharp's attitude to the morris. Since all morris dancers share to some extent or another in these 'Merrie England' roots, it is also a first step to an understanding of morris today. Let us begin with the popular scholarship of the 1880s concerning the morris. Ideas and material had come from Tollet (1778), Strutt (1801), Douce (1807), Brand (1813), Drake (1817), Hone (1826-32), Chappell (1838-40), Knight (1845-46), Gutch (1847), Chambers (1863-64), and many others, some in more than one edition, culminating in Strutt (1876) and Brand (1877).3 It must now suffice to say that this had been a complex process of transmission, embodying genuine scholarship at some points and pure plagiarization at others.

Preparing for the Christmas rush: will it be icing on the cake or Boxing Day blues?

The perils of the Distribution Manager's role are never more clearly illustrated than by the Christmas rush and the January hangover. If Christmas 1988 meant seat of the pants survival, now is the time to reflect on it and plan your strategy for what the pundits say will be a tougher 1989. This article examines how centralised distribution has changed the role's emphasis from physical distribution to supply chain management, and how the successful management of stocks is the key to success.

The Shallow end

HERE we are knocking out copy for the February 1982 issue, with three more days to go in 1981. This is Monday, the official or statutory or whatever Boxing Day and already two members of the family are back with bargains from what used to be called January Sales.

The Gardener's Story: The Metafolklore of a Mumming Tradition

(1982). The Gardener's Story: The Metafolklore of a Mumming Tradition. Folklore: Vol. 93, No. 1, pp. 105-111.

Variations in number of births and perinatal mortality by day of week in England and Wales.

Analysis of the births that occurred in England and Wales during 1970-6 showed that they followed a seven-day cycle, being concentrated from Tuesdays to Fridays and least numerous on Sundays. This pattern became increasingly pronounced during the period examined. Relatively few births occurred on bank holidays, especially Christmas Day and Boxing Day. In general perinatal mortality was higher among babies born at weekends than among those born on weekdays. It is likely that the pattern seen in the numbers of births is associated to a large extent with elective intervention. It is not possible to draw any conclusions about the pattern seen in perinatal mortality as so far the analysis has been confined to crude rates.

Full moon poya days and other festivals

I WAS THINKING recently that it will soon be the Spring Bank Holiday and then the summer one and before we know where we are, as the saying is, we will have Christmas Day and Boxing Day upon us, and how pleasant and nicely‐spaced about the year these little breaks are, when I came across a book which completely soured my outlook. It indicated that most people do better (and many do a damn sight better) in this respect than we in the more‐or‐less‐United Kingdom do.

A Voice from below: Benjamin Boyce in South Australia, 1839-1846

The limits of history-from-below are very largely defined by the availability of literary sources. Working class documents, especially letters, of the early nineteenth century are rare. It may be that migration history will yield important documentation for working class life and mores. For a migrant in a new colony, even if only semi-literate, was almost bound to put pen to paper and to write home to his people. It was, virtually, a compulsory exercise,1 and represents one of the few moments when the working man would record his own thoughts, possi bly his view of the world, in a direct manner. Sadly it is the case that few of such letters have been collected together. In general, of course, the survival of historical materials favours the literate and wealthy, while most working class history is lost forever. Moreover most published collections of pioneers' memoirs and emigrants' letters con tain little material relating to the ordinary migrant?successful, middle class, men of substance, are well recorded in such collections,2 but there is absurdly little representation of the great masses of migrants who flooded out of Europe in the nineteenth century. Benjamin Boyce came from Freiston, Scrane End, near Boston, Lincolnshire on the migrant vessel, the Moffatt, which arrived in Adelaide in December 1839. Boyce appears to have joined the crew of the Moffatt without knowing its destination. He certainly had no notion of settling in South Australia. However, on board the Moffatt, he met the woman who was eventually to be his wife, an emigrant to South Aus tralia. Boyce jumped ship in Adelaide on Boxing Day 1839. His letters describe his fugitive existence in the outlying areas of Adelaide as a runaway sailor. A reward of ?2 was put on his capture and he lived on fish, presumably in a Crusoe-like fashion. When the Moffatt departed, Boyce left his hiding place and found employment on a dairy farm. After three months he began cutting hay on government land in Adelaide and selling it on his own account. But when competition increased he moved out of Adelaide to work in part nership with William Holland. Holland had served fourteen years as a convict in Van Diemen's Land after being transported to Australia from Boyce's village in Lincolnshire. He and Boyce worked at tree cutting and the erection of rough houses and fences in the Adelaide Hills. In nine months Boyce was able to save ?40. He then became involved in work at a grog shop. At one point he bought a pony cart and harness