Raiding and Trading Along the Spanish Lake: The Woodes Rogers Expedition of 1708-1711

Woodes Rogers is best known for rescuing Alexander Selkirk, the castaway who formed the genesis for Robinson Crusoe and as the governor of the Bahamas who virtually extinguished piracy in the West Indies. However, Rogers first achieved fame through a 1708-1711 cruising voyage in which he circumnavigated the globe and captured a Spanish Manila galleon. His privateers and investors, and their place in the maritime world of the early eighteenth century, are the subject of this dissertation. This study explores how the cruising voyage and its organization illustrate important commercial, legal, and social facets of the contemporary world. Its examination of the socioeconomic status of the “Syndicate” investors who financed and directed the enterprise shows that many were heavily engaged in Bristol politics and charitable organizations before the voyage. The Syndicate obtained letters of marque licensing the two ships of the expedition to capture enemy vessels, and at the same time instructed the expedition to explore the possibilities of trade with Spanish settlers on the Pacific coasts of the Americas. The Syndicate also appointed a “Council” to govern the expedition during its voyage. Next, the dissertation describes the expedition’s circumnavigation of the globe including its raid on Guayaquil and capture of a Manila galleon, and its shift to peaceful trading as it crossed the Pacific and returned to Britain via Dutch-controlled colonies. The final chapter describes the sale of the ships and their cargoes, the payments of wages and expenses, the calculation of the net profit of the enterprise how it was distributed, and the settlement of lawsuits brought by the East India Company and the expedition members against the Syndicate. The conclusion traces what became of many of the investors and sailors after the voyage ended. Many Syndicate members remained in Bristol politics, and others used their profits to engage in Bristol civic life for the first time. Some officers used their profits to become ship-owners themselves while others went back to sea. Again, the work shows how the figures ended their lives as part and parcel of the contemporary maritime and economic worlds

Admission cardiotocography versus Doppler auscultation of fetal heart in high risk pregnancies in a tertiary health facility in Nigeria

Background: Admission cardiotocography (CTG) and intermittent auscultation (IA) of the fetal heart  might help to identify those foetuses that could not withstand the stress of labour and also predict neonatal outcome. The aim was to compare the associations of admission CTG findings and those of IA of the fetal heart with labour and neonatal outcome.Methods: It was a prospective COHORT study. 30 minutes admission CTG for each of the 387 participants was interpreted, using the FIGO 2015 guideline and physiological interpretation. Admission IA was also performed on the same patients. Women whose CTG showed chronic hypoxia had caesarean section while those with either suspicious or pathological CTG, had intrapartum fetal resuscitation. Those that responded proceeded to labour during which fetal condition was monitored with IA. Data was analysed using a statistical package for social science (SPSS) software, version 19.Results: 108 (28.57%) and 57 (15.08%) of the 378 participants had abnormal admission CTG and admission IA findings respectively. The sensitivity of abnormal admission CTG and IA to predict abnormal IA findings in labour were 70.59% and 41.18% respectively. Compared with admission IA, admission CTG was more likely to predict the following labour and neonatal outcomes: caesarean section rates 72 (70.59%) and 42 (41.18%) for admission CTG versus IA groups respectively; relative risk RR=1.714; 95% CI 1.317-2.231, 1 min Apgar score less than 7, 78 (89.66%) and 36 (41.38%); RR=2.167; 95% CI 1.670-2.810, 5 min Apgar score less than 7, 57 (90.48%) and 33 (52.38%); RR=1.727; 95% CI 1.347-2.215, admission to SCBU 51 (68%) and 30 (40%); RR=1.700; 95% CI 1.237-2.336, intrauterine fetal deaths and early neonatal death.Conclusions: Admission CTG was a better predictor of labour and neonatal outcome than admission IA. CTG was therefore highly recommended as an integral tool in the management of labour

Risk assessment and thromboprophylaxis for venous thromboembolism in the puerperium in a tertiary health facility in Nigeria

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in the puerperium. Unfortunately in Nigerian tertiary institutions, there is paucity of information about its risk factors, screening for it, and its prophylaxis. The aim of the study therefore was to review the VTE risk and thromboprophylaxis in the puerperium at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Nigeria.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study carried out at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH). The following data were extracted from the notes of 424 consecutive inpatients postnatal women who delivered from the 1st of January to the 30th of April 2020: history/demographic characteristics, risk factors for VTE using the RCOG Green top guideline No. 37a.of 2015 as a benchmark, thromboprophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of VTE. Women with a VTE event in the preceding 4 months before pregnancy were excluded. Data was analysed using a statistical package for social science (SPSS) software, version 18.Results: Risk assessment for VTE and its prophylaxis in the puerperium were not routine practice at the UPTH. 420 (99.06%) out of the total 424 postpartum women that were assessed were at significant risk of developing VTE and therefore needed to be on thromboprophylaxis with low molecular weight heparin. Irrespective of the high prevalence of risk factors and the fact that 100 (23.58%) of the patients had symptoms and signs of VTE, no case of VTE was recorded in the study population. Paucity of information and lack of knowledge about the diseases may be responsible for that.Conclusions: 420 (99.06%) out of the total 424 puerperal women were at significant risk of developing VTE and therefore needed to be on thromboprophylaxis in the puerperium. It was therefore recommended that a national guideline on VTE in the puerperium be written, taking into consideration local disease topography, ethnic diversity and the level of economic development in Nigeria

Democracy and civil war: the case of Colombia

We argue that scholarship on the Colombian civil war can fertilize the research program on political violence and democracy in two ways. First, the Colombian case demonstrates that the scholarly research agenda on electoral violence should expand to incorporate a broader focus on democratic institutions. In the context of an ongoing civil war, democratic reforms in Colombia had a substantial impact on the dynamics of wartime violence. Second, the Colombian case showcases an overlooked danger of decentralization that, if implemented under the wrong conditions, can facilitate the capture of democratic institutions by political and criminal armed groups. These insights have important implications for the study of wartime democratic governance and state-building relevant both for the peace process between the Colombian government and the FARC, and for cases beyond Colombia

Derivation of an observer model adapted to irregular signals based on convolution channels.

Anthropomorphic model observers are mathe- matical algorithms which are applied to images with the ultimate goal of predicting human signal detection and classification accuracy across varieties of backgrounds, image acquisitions and display conditions. A limitation of current channelized model observers is their inability to handle irregularly-shaped signals, which are common in clinical images, without a high number of directional channels. Here, we derive a new linear model observer based on convolution channels which we refer to as the "Filtered Channel observer" (FCO), as an extension of the channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) and the nonprewhitening with an eye filter (NPWE) observer. In analogy to the CHO, this linear model observer can take the form of a single template with an external noise term. To compare with human observers, we tested signals with irregular and asymmetrical shapes spanning the size of lesions down to those of microcalfications in 4-AFC breast tomosynthesis detection tasks, with three different contrasts for each case. Whereas humans uniformly outperformed conventional CHOs, the FCO observer outperformed humans for every signal with only one exception. Additive internal noise in the models allowed us to degrade model performance and match human performance. We could not match all the human performances with a model with a single internal noise component for all signal shape, size and contrast conditions. This suggests that either the internal noise might vary across signals or that the model cannot entirely capture the human detection strategy. However, the FCO model offers an efficient way to apprehend human observer performance for a non-symmetric signal

The 'permeome' of the malaria parasite: an overview of the membrane transport proteins of Plasmodium falciparum

BACKGROUND: The uptake of nutrients, expulsion of metabolic wastes and maintenance of ion homeostasis by the intraerythrocytic malaria parasite is mediated by membrane transport proteins. Proteins of this type are also implicated in the phenomenon of antimalarial drug resistance. However, the initial annotation of the genome of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum identified only a limited number of transporters, and no channels. In this study we have used a combination of bioinformatic approaches to identify and attribute putative functions to transporters and channels encoded by the malaria parasite, as well as comparing expression patterns for a subset of these. RESULTS: A computer program that searches a genome database on the basis of the hydropathy plots of the corresponding proteins was used to identify more than 100 transport proteins encoded by P. falciparum. These include all the transporters previously annotated as such, as well as a similar number of candidate transport proteins that had escaped detection. Detailed sequence analysis enabled the assignment of putative substrate specificities and/or transport mechanisms to all those putative transport proteins previously without. The newly-identified transport proteins include candidate transporters for a range of organic and inorganic nutrients (including sugars, amino acids, nucleosides and vitamins), and several putative ion channels. The stage-dependent expression of RNAs for 34 candidate transport proteins of particular interest are compared. CONCLUSION: The malaria parasite possesses substantially more membrane transport proteins than was originally thought, and the analyses presented here provide a range of novel insights into the physiology of this important human pathogen

Sero-prevalence and associated factors of hepatitis B virus infection among antenatal women at booking in a tertiary hospital

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global public health problem affecting about two billion people worldwide. About 95% of the infection is acquired during the perinatal period. Though studies have been carried out on these in different parts of Nigeria, information regarding the prevalence and risk factors of HBV infection in antenatal clinic attendees in south-south Nigeria is scanty. We determined the sero-prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and the associated factors among pregnant women in south-south, Nigeria. Methods: A retrospective study carried out at the antenatal clinic of Rivers State university teaching hospital (RSUTH) between 1st January, 2015 and 31st December, 2020.  At booking visit, 9,990 women were tested for HBsAg. Data was analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 23.0. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 9,990 women were screened for HBV infection. Prevalence of HBV infection was 160 (1.6%). Age group 30-39 years had most HBV infection, 103 (64.4%). Most who were positive for HBsAg were married 158 (98.7%), traders 45 (28.1%), para 2-4, 65 (40.6%); in their second trimester, 78 (48.8%) and with tertiary level of education 111 (69.3%). Associated factors of HBV infection with statistically significant difference in proportion of HBsAg positives and negatives include gestational age, educational status, occupation, presence of HIV and VDRL. Conclusions: Although the study reveals a low prevalence of HBV infection, continued routine screening for HBV infection is highly recommended

Long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution and the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a national English cohort.

OBJECTIVES: The role of outdoor air pollution in the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains unclear. We investigated this question using a large, nationally representative cohort based on primary care records linked to hospital admissions. METHODS: A cohort of 812 063 patients aged 40-89 years registered with 205 English general practices in 2002 without a COPD diagnosis was followed from 2003 to 2007. First COPD diagnoses recorded either by a general practitioner (GP) or on admission to hospital were identified. Annual average concentrations in 2002 for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <10 µm (PM10) and <2.5 µm (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone and sulfur dioxide (SO2) at 1 km(2) resolution were estimated from emission-based dispersion models. Hazard ratios (HRs) per interquartile range change were estimated from Cox models adjusting for age, sex, smoking, body mass index and area-level deprivation. RESULTS: 16 034 participants (1.92%) received a COPD diagnosis from their GP and 2910 participants (0.35%) were admitted to hospital for COPD. After adjustment, HRs for GP recorded COPD and PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 were close to unity, positive for SO2 (HR=1.07 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.11) per 2.2 µg/m(3)) and negative for ozone (HR=0.94 (0.89 to 1.00) per 3 µg/m(3)). For admissions HRs for PM2.5 and NO2 remained positive (HRs=1.05 (0.98 to 1.13) and 1.06 (0.98 to 1.15) per 1.9 µg/m(3) and 10.7 µg/m(3), respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This large population-based cohort study found limited, inconclusive evidence for associations between air pollution and COPD incidence. Further work, utilising improved estimates of air pollution over time and enhanced socioeconomic indicators, is required to clarify the association between air pollution and COPD incidence