Between Commerce and Empire: David Hume, Colonial Slavery, and Commercial Incivility

Eighteenth-century Enlightenment thought has recently been reclaimed as a robust, albeit short-lived, cosmopolitan critique of European imperialism. This essay complicates this interpretation through a study of David Hume’s reflections on commerce, empire and slavery. I argue that while Hume condemned the colonial system of monopoly, war and conquest, his strictures against empire did not extend to colonial slavery in the Atlantic. This was because colonial slavery represented a manifestly uncivil institution when judged by enlightened metropolitan sensibilities, yet also a decisively commercial institution pivotal to the eighteenth-century global economy. Confronted by the paradoxical ‘commercial incivility’ of modern slavery, Hume opted for disavowing the link between slavery and commerce, and confined his criticism of slavery to its ancient, feudal and Asiatic incarnations. I contend that Hume’s disavowal of the commercial barbarism of the Atlantic economy is part of a broader ideological effort to separate the idea of commerce from its imperial origins and posit it as the liberal antithesis of empire. The implications of analysis, I conclude, go beyond the eighteenth-century debates over commerce and empire, and more generally pertain to the contradictory entwinement of liberalism and capitalism

Randomized Clinical Trial of High-Dose Rifampicin With or Without Levofloxacin Versus Standard of Care for Pediatric Tuberculous Meningitis: The TBM-KIDS Trial

Background. Pediatric tuberculous meningitis (TBM) commonly causes death or disability. In adults, high-dose rifampicin may reduce mortality. The role of fluoroquinolones remains unclear. There have been no antimicrobial treatment trials for pediatric TBM. Methods. TBM-KIDS was a phase 2 open-label randomized trial among children with TBM in India and Malawi. Participants received isoniazid and pyrazinamide plus: (i) high-dose rifampicin (30 mg/kg) and ethambutol (R30HZE, arm 1); (ii) high-dose rifampicin and levofloxacin (R30HZL, arm 2); or (iii) standard-dose rifampicin and ethambutol (R15HZE, arm 3) for 8 weeks, followed by 10 months of standard treatment. Functional and neurocognitive outcomes were measured longitudinally using Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) and Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Results. Of 2487 children prescreened, 79 were screened and 37 enrolled. Median age was 72 months; 49%, 43%, and 8% had stage I, II, and III disease, respectively. Grade 3 or higher adverse events occurred in 58%, 55%, and 36% of children in arms 1, 2, and 3, with 1 death (arm 1) and 6 early treatment discontinuations (4 in arm 1, 1 each in arms 2 and 3). By week 8, all children recovered to MRS score of 0 or 1. Average MSEL scores were significantly better in arm 1 than arm 3 in fine motor, receptive language, and expressive language domains (P < .01). Conclusions. In a pediatric TBM trial, functional outcomes were excellent overall. The trend toward higher frequency of adverse events but better neurocognitive outcomes in children receiving high-dose rifampicin requires confirmation in a larger trial. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT02958709

Synthesis and bioactivity evaluation of some novel sulfonamide derivatives

<p>A simple and convenient method for the synthesis of biologically active sulfonamide derivatives was achieved. All the title compounds were characterized by spectral and elemental analysis. They were further screened in vitro for their abilities towards antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities. The compound <i>N,N'</i>-(3,3′-dimethoxybiphenyl-4,4′-diyl)bis(4-fluorobenzenesulfonamide) (<b>5b</b>) and <i>N</i>-(3-(9H-carbazol-4-yloxy)-2-hydroxypropyl)-4-fluoro-N-isopropylbenzenesulfonamide (<b>5e</b>) exhibited good activity when compared to the standard bactericide, Chloramphenicol and fungicide, Ketoconazole respectively. The compounds (2S)-<i>N</i>-((2S,4S)-5-(4-Chloro-phenylsulfonamido)-4-hydroxy-1, 6-diphenylhexan-2-yl)-3-methyl-2-(2-oxotetrahydropyrim-idin-1(2H)-yl)butan-amide (<b>4f</b>) and (2S)-<i>N</i>-((2S,4S)-5-(4-fluorophenylsulfonamido)-4-hydroxy-1,6-diphenyl-hexan-2-yl)-3-methyl-2-(2-oxotetrahydropyrimidin-1(2H)-yl)bu-tana-mide (<b>5f</b>) exhibited good antioxidant activity when compared with standard antioxidant, Ascorbic acid.</p

Bismuth(III) Chloride Mediated Michaelis–Arbuzov Reaction: A Facile Synthesis of Substituted Arylphosphonates/Phosphinates and Bioactivity Evaluation

<div><p>GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT</p><p></p></div

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Not AvailableThe climate change phenomenon has become more imminent in the present century than ever before, as indicated by the unabated rise in atmospheric temperature aberrations from local to regional scales. Our study focuses on the changes in mean air temperature (Tavg) in the parts of eastern Himalaya, representing Naga, Lusai and Khashi hills, extended over the regional boundaries of seven northeast Indian states. We observed statistically significant increase in annual Tavg, for the majority of ground meteorological stations in northeast India. Monthly values depict significant increase for Basar, Imphal and Gangtok in the majority of the months, followed by Umiam, Kolasib and Kailashahar. Despite the spatial variability, the overall range of increase in Tavg is 0.2 °C to 1.6 °C per decade across the study region. Significant rise in Tavg during the winter is experienced by five out of seven places. Changepoint detection analysis revealed that Tavg values of Imphal experienced maximum number of shifts during the early to late 1990s, followed by Gangtok, Basar, Umiam and Kolasib. Shifts in Tavg during winter months are also most common and occurred during the late-1990s. The results may be used in modelling the impact of changing climate on the ecosystem and agriculture of north-east India.Not Availabl