[1] In boreal forests, fire is a frequent disturbance and converts soil organic carbon (OC) to more degradation-resistant aromatic carbon, i.e., black carbon (BC) which might act as a long-term atmospheric-carbon sink. Little is known on the effects of fires on boreal soil OC stocks and molecular composition. We studied how a surface fire affected the composition of the forest floor of Siberian Scots pine forests by comparing the bulk elemental composition, molecular structure (¹³C-MAS NMR), and the aromatic carbon fraction (BC and potentially interfering constituents like tannins) of unburned and burned forest floor. Fire reduced the mass of the forest floor by 60%, stocks of inorganic elements (Si, Al, Fe, K, Ca, Na, Mg, Mn) by 30–50%, and of OC, nitrogen, and sulfur by 40–50%. In contrast to typical findings from temperate forests, unburned OC consisted mainly of (di-)O-alkyl (polysaccharides) and few aromatic structures, probably due to dominant input of lichen biomass. Fire converted OC into alkyl and aromatic structures, the latter consisting of heterocyclic macromolecules and small clusters of condensed carbon. The small cluster size explained the small BC concentrations determined using a degradative molecular marker method. Fire increased BC stocks (16 g kg⁻¹ OC) by 40% which translates into a net-conversion rate of 0.7% (0.35% of net primary production) unburned OC to BC. Here, however, BC was not a major fraction of soil OC pool in unburned or burned forest floor, either due to rapid in situ degradation or relocation.

Introduction: On March 18, 2009, actress Natasha Richardson died after a head injury. It is possiblethat the rate of patients presenting with mild head injury and receiving computed tomographies (CTs)may have been influenced by the Richardson event. We hypothesized that there was a statisticallysignificant increase in the rate of census-adjusted head CTs performed for mild trauma after March16, 2009, compared to prior to this date.

Methods: We included all with a non-contrast head CT performed from the emergency department(ED) between March 1and April 15, 2009, for minor trauma. The primary outcome was the censusadjustedrate of head CTs per time (# of head CTs/census). We compared the census adjusted ratefor the 2 weeks prior to 2 weeks after the accident. To document media dissemination we searchedLexis-Nexis for news stories mentioning “Richardson.”

Results: In the 2 weeks prior to March 16, 2009, the census-adjusted rate was 0.81% (95% CI0.54–1.16) and there were no stories. The first media reports appeared on March 16, 2009, (n = 19)and quickly doubled (n = 40, n = 43) over the subsequent 2 days. The rate of CTs nearly doubledduring the 2 weeks post accident 1.46% (1.10–1.91%). This absolute increase in rate percentagewas statistically significant. (0.65%; 0.17 to 1.14%).

Conclusion: The percentage of all ED patients seen with mild trauma tested with head CT almostdoubled when comparing the pre-Richardson accident vs. post time periods. There was an increasein media reports of the accident that occurred rapidly after the event and peaked on day 3. [West J Emerg Med. 2012;13(6):548-550]

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) crowding is associated with detrimental effects on EDquality of care. Triage liaison providers (TLP) have been used to mitigate the effects of crowding.Prior studies have evaluated attending physicians and advanced practice providers as TLPs, withlimited data evaluating resident physicians as TLPs. This study compares operational performanceoutcomes between resident and attending physicians as TLPs.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study compared aggregate operational performance at anurban, academic ED during pre- and post-TLP periods. The primary outcome was defined ascost-effectiveness based upon return on investment (ROI). Secondary outcomes were defined asdifferences in median ED length of stay (LOS), median door-to-provider (DTP) time, proportion of leftwithout being seen (LWBS), and proportion of “very good” overall patient satisfaction scores.

Results: Annual profit generated for physician-based collections through LWBS capture (afterdeducting respective salary costs) equated to a gain (ROI: 54%) for resident TLPs and a loss(ROI: -31%) for attending TLPs. Accounting for hospital-based collections made both profitable,with gains for resident TLPs (ROI: 317%) and for attending TLPs (ROI: 86%). Median DTP time forresident TLPs was significantly lower (p<0.0001) than attending or historical control. Proportion of “verygood” patient satisfaction scores and LWBS was improved for both resident and attending TLPs overhistorical control. Overall median LOS was not significantly different.

Conclusion: Resident and attending TLPs improved DTP time, patient satisfaction, and LWBSrates. Both resident and attending TLPs are cost effective, with residents having a more favorablefinancial profile.

Black carbon (BC), produced by incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and vegetation, occurs ubiquitously in soils and sediments. BC exists as a continuum from partly charred material to highly graphitized soot particles, with no general agreement on clear-cut boundaries of definition or analysis. In a comparative analysis, we measured BC forms in eight soil samples by six established methods. All methods involved removal of the non-BC components from the sample by thermal or chemical means or a combination of both. The remaining carbon, operationally defined as BC, was quantified via mass balance, elemental composition or by exploiting benzenecarboxylic acids as molecular markers or applying ¹³C MAS NMR (magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy. BC concentrations measured for individual samples vary over 2 orders of magnitude (up to a factor of 571). One possible explanation for this wide range of results is that the individual BC methods rely on operational definitions with clear-cut but different boundaries and developed for specific scientific questions, whereas BC represents a continuum of materials with widely contrasting physicochemical properties. Thus the methods are inherently designed to analytically determine different parts of the continuum, and it is crucial to know how measurements made by different techniques relate to each other. It is clear from this preliminary comparative analysis that a collection of BC reference materials should be established as soon as possible 1 ) to ensure long-term intralaboratory and interlaboratory data quality and 2) to facilitate comparative analyses between different analytical techniques and scientific approaches