Background: A national survey was undertaken to establish a baseline of our final year students' perception of how their undergraduate oral surgery education has equipped them for key areas of general dental practice.

SummaryPhosphorus (P) speciation in 21 basaltic and four non-basaltic Irish grassland soils was determined by NaOH-EDTA extraction and 31 P NMR spectroscopy. Organic P in basaltic soils ranged between 30and 697 mg P kg À1 and consisted of phosphate monoesters (84-100%), DNA (0-16%) and phosphonates (0-5%). Inorganic P was mainly phosphate (83-100%) with small concentrations of pyrophosphate (0-17%). Phosphate monoesters were more important as a proportion of extracted P in basaltic soils, probably because of their greater oxalate-extractable Fe and Al contents. Phosphate monoesters appeared to be strongly associated with non-crystalline Al and increased with total soil P concentration, indicating that they do accumulate in grassland soils. In non-basaltic soils myo-inositol hexakisphosphate constituted between 20 and 52% of organic P, while scyllo-inositol hexakisphosphate constituted between 12 and 17%. These compounds were not quantified separately in basaltic soils because of poor NMR resolution in the phosphate monoester region, but appeared to represent a considerable proportion of the organic P in most samples. DNA concentrations were greater in basaltic soils compared with non-basaltic soils and were associated with acidic pH and large total C contents. The inability of the Olsen P test to assess effectively the P status of basaltic soils may result from strong phosphate sorption to Fe and Al oxides, inducing plant utilization of soil organic P. Phosphorus nutrient management should account for this to avoid over-application of P and associated financial and environmental costs.

This checklist-based assessment of suturing skills was found to have face and content validity. Its reliability was promising, but merits further investigation. There may be an argument for the standardisation of the assessment of this core surgical skill throughout several UK-based dental schools.

Using this generic checklist, it may now be possible to pool data inter-institution to perform more powerful analyses on how our students obtain, or fail to obtain competence in forceps exodontia.

The study aim is to investigate characteristics, barriers and enablers for attendance at the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme Northern Ireland (DESPNI) among people with diabetes aged 12–26 years. A mixed-methods approach with retrospective analysis and prospective, questionnaire-based data collection was completed. Data were analysed using ordinal logistic regression. A questionnaire collected information on barriers and enablers to attending DESPNI. Age, diabetes duration, attendance at diabetes clinic and lower HbA1c values were significantly associated with better attendance. Those aged 12–15 were more likely to attend screening than 16–26 years, odds ratio (OR) 4.01. Subjects diagnosed less than 5 years were more likely to attend than those with longer diabetes duration (OR = 2.52, p =< 0.001). Subjects who attended diabetes clinics were more likely to attend screening (OR = 1.89, p =< 0.001) and have a lower HbA1c (OR = 1.46, p =< 0.001). Questionnaires revealed major barriers to attendance which included inconvenient appointment times, lack of access and poor communication. While many subjects were aware of the impact of diabetes on the eye, many had little understanding of screening. This study provides pivotal information on potential barriers and enablers for young people attending eye screening. We suggest modest changes such as convenient appointment times, clearer communication and one-stop clinics could improve attendance.

Abstract. Anecdotal and circumstantial evidence have suggested that the Olsen test underestimates plant‐available phosphorus (P) in basaltic soils in Northern Ireland. Therefore, the ability of this test to predict plant‐available P in basaltic (and non‐basaltic) soils was investigated by regressing Olsen‐P data against herbage P indices calculated from plant tissue test data using the diagnosis and recommendation integrated system. The average Olsen‐P concentration for a range of fields situated on basaltic soils was considerably lower than the average Olsen‐P concentration for a range of fields situated on non‐basaltic soils, and yet mean sward P status, as given by the herbage P indices, was similar for both groups of fields. Herbage P indices were also much better correlated with Olsen‐P measurements in non‐basaltic soils than in basaltic soils. Furthermore, at low Olsen‐P values (≶9mgPL−1) some swards on basaltic soils were genuinely deficient in P, while others were sufficient or even in surplus for this nutrient. The results confirm that Olsen‐P is inadequate as a predictor of plant‐available P in basaltic soils. It is concluded that an alternative soil test is needed to provide a reliable assessment of plant‐available P in basaltic soils, to prevent overuse of fertilizer and manure P and to minimize the amounts of P entering local watercourses.

Abstract. Recent work has demonstrated that the Olsen test for phosphorus (P) is an unreliable predictor of plant‐available P in soils derived from basalt parent material in Northern Ireland. The present study was conducted to develop a more reliable soil‐P test for these soils by regressing P fractions removed from soil by various chemical extractants against herbage P indices calculated from plant tissue test data using a diagnosis and recommendation integrated system. The degree of P saturation of the soil P sorption capacity, based on ammonium oxalate extractable P, Al and Fe, provided a better prediction of P available to swards on basaltic soils than either the Olsen test or a number of other well‐known soil‐P test procedures. The superiority of the degree of P saturation test on basaltic soils was attributed to the fact that it simultaneously takes account of both P quantity and P buffering capacity factors in predicting P availability. The Olsen‐P test, which accounts for the P quantity factor alone, was only reliable for non‐basaltic soils. Re‐classifying the P fertility status of basaltic soils according to the degree of P saturation test could result in considerably less P being recommended for these soils with possible consequential benefits to water quality.

Recent work has demonstrated that the Olsen test for phosphorus (P) is an unreliable predictor of plant-available P in soils derived from basalt parent material in Northern Ireland. The present study was conducted to develop a more reliable soil-P test for these soils by regressing P fractions removed from soil by various chemical extractants against herbage P indices calculated from plant tissue test data using a diagnosis and recommendation integrated system. The degree of P saturation of the soil P sorption capacity, based on ammonium oxalate extractable P, Al and Fe, provided a better prediction of P available to swards on basaltic soils than either the Olsen test or a number of other well-known soil-P test procedures. The superiority of the degree of P saturation test on basaltic soils was attributed to the fact that it simultaneously takes account of both P quantity and P buffering capacity factors in predicting P availability. The Olsen-P test, which accounts for the P quantity factor alone, was only reliable for non-basaltic soils. Re-classifying the P fertility status of basaltic soils according to the degree of P saturation test could result in considerably less P being recommended for these soils with possible consequential benefits to water quality.