English smuggling in the eighteenth century

Three main areas are addressed: smuggling as a commercial activity; as a form of social crime; and as a problem of policing. The claim that the violence of the Sussex smugglers in the 1740s was atypical is scrutinised, adopting a comparative approach between regions and over time, and it is argued that force was a rational response adopted by many smugglers when their interests were threatened. The contrabanders extended their penetration of legal markets and distribution networks in the second half of the eighteenth century, but this was accompanied by increasing levels of violence. Studying the confrontations between the smugglers and the preventive forces raises the question of how violent a society England was. The discussion is moved away from the homicide statistics to armed defence and calculated intimidation. The use of violence as a business stratagem raises questions concerning the smugglers' status as 'social criminals.' Illicit importation enjoyed high levels of popular support, but whether contemporaries saw the pursuit of the contraband trade as legitimising murder and mayhem, remains debatable. The adversarial model, in which smugglers are pitted against the forces of the revenue, and represented as the defenders of the local economies against commercial monopolists, is an i[complete picture. Smugglers and revenue officers had to establish a modus vivandi, Collectors and Comptrollers were often leaders in their local communities and active in local politics, and some smugglers were themselves men of standing and influence. The intention is to focus on continuity; in terms of attitudes, methods, and the problems presented to the authorities. The involvement of the continental East India companies indicates that the smuggling trade in the first half of the eighteenth century should be seen as more than a number of locally based, small-scale enterprises The problem for government was that smuggling was more of a business than a form of social protest. Members of the political nation were conscious of the need to compromise for the sake of stability, and the use of the state's coercive machinery against smuggling, the army, navy and the law, is perhaps better seen as an exercise in containment rather than an attempt at repression

Post-release evaluation and thermal physiology of the Pereskia stem-wilter, Catorhintha schaffneri (Coreidae), a new biological control agent for Pereskia aculeata (Cactaceae)

Catorhintha schaffneri Brailovsky and Garcia (Hemiptera: Coreidae) is a biological control agent that was recently accepted for release in South Africa to control Pereskia aculeata Miller (Cactaceae), an invasive creeping cactus. The aim of this thesis was to conduct post-release research to ensure that C. schaffneri is utilised to its full potential. To achieve this aim, and focus release efforts, the thermal physiology of C. schaffneri was investigated to predict where in South Africa the agent is most likely to establish. These predictions were then tested by releasing the agent at field sites with a wide variety of climatic conditions and evaluating establishment success. When invasive plants invade a wide distribution, made up of areas with different climatic conditions, biological control agents may not establish or be effective throughout the invaded distribution. According to the thermal physiology of C. schaffneri, it is most likely to establish and become effective in the subtropical region of South Africa, along the coast of KwaZulu- Natal. Cold winters, or generally low year-round temperatures, may limit establishment in the more temperate areas of South Africa in the Eastern and Western Cape as well as inland in the Highveld region. These predictions can be used to focus release efforts to climatically suitable regions and stop releases in areas where C. schaffneri cannot survive. Predictions based on thermal physiology may not account for all of the variables which affect establishment. To account for other variables, the establishment of C. schaffneri was tested using closely monitored field release studies. During these studies the effect of other variables such as; microclimate temperature, humidity, precipitation, plant quality and release strategy were considered. Low humidity, precipitation and plant quality appear to affect the establishment of C. schaffneri in the subtropical areas of South Africa. The experiment was conducted during a period of drought, and this may have resulted in lower establishment rates. The most successful release strategy for C. schaffneri was the use of multiple, small releases rather than single releases of the same number of individuals. The field based study was therefore able to improve the biological control of P. aculeata by increasing the chance that each release of C. schaffneri results in establishment. The post-release studies presented in this thesis will increase the impact of C. schaffneri by focussing release efforts to climatically suitable sites, releasing at appropriate times of year and releasing the agent in a manner that increases establishment success. Post-release studies, such as those presented here, can make biological control programmes more efficient and effective

Decolonizing Playwriting through Indigenous Ceremonial Performances

This dissertation attempts to express the importance of storytelling within the Indigenous Theater framework. It does so by first analyzing the progression of the writer’s unique upbringing and analyzing the influences of story upon an indigenous identity. I will also attempt to describe the aesthetics of Native Theater along two lines of methodology which includes praxis described and developed by Hanay Geiogamah and Rolland Meinholtz. I will also explain how the script 1n2ian tries to follow those concepts of Native Theater to create a ceremonial performance that uses a blending of both methodologies

Impact of At-Home Versus Clinic-Based Services on Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Treatment Rates

Background: Chlamydia and gonorrhea are the 2 most commonly reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States. Additionally, the number of reported cases is lower than the estimated total number of cases due to a variety of factors including: unawareness of infection, lack of symptoms, social stigma, and the fact that chlamydia and gonorrhea are still not routinely screened for in many clinical settings. Past studies suggest that individuals prefer at-home sampling and would even get tested more often if STI self-collection were available. Numerous studies investigating the effectiveness, screening uptake, and safety of at-home sampling have been performed. However, the question of treatment rates in relation to at-home sampling remains. Can the use of at-home STI screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea lead to increased rates of treatment compared to traditional STI screening methods in sexually active adults? Methods: An extensive search was conducted using MEDLINE-PubMed, MEDLINE-Ovid, and TRIP with the keywords: ((home OR internet access* OR specimen handling OR self-sampling ) AND (screen* OR test*) AND (gonorrhea OR chlamydia) AND (treatment OR therapy)). The eligibility criterion was applied to the results and duplications were removed. References of selected studies were considered. Quality of included studies was assessed using GRADE. Results: Two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. The first study recruited 2072 participants who were then randomly allocated to receive a text message with a link containing instructions to either complete at home screening (intervention) or clinic-based screening (control). The proportion of participants treated was 1.1% in the intervention group versus 0.7% in the control group. The second study conducted a population-based trial that included all people between ages 18-25. The intervention group, 10 000 individuals, received information on chlamydia and a mail-back urine sampling kit by post. The control group, 31 519 individuals, received nothing by mail and was not made aware of the study. The intervention led to 2.5 times more individuals receiving treatment. Conclusion: At-home chlamydia and gonorrhea sampling may lead to increased rates of treatment

Assessing Mediating Effect of Motivation Types on Competition Intervention For Physically Inactive Adults

Competition has been widely used as the behaviour change technique for physical activity intervention (Peng, Crouse, & Lin, 2012), this approach might push someone motivation to achieve the desired behaviour. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the mediating effects of the motivation on the competition intervention effectiveness. An experimental research was conducted where participants were randomly allocated into one of two groups (control and competition group). For calculating the motivation types, Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2) was administered. The results revealed that motivation was not found to mediate the effect of competition intervention

Working to Feel Better or Feeling Better to Work? Discourses of Wellbeing in Austerity Reality TV

By focusing on discourses within the ‘cultural economy’ of reality TV, the following considers the wider positioning of waged labor as essential for mental health during a period of austerity. The findings suggest that discourses of mental health and wellbeing construct figures of a ‘good’ welfare-recipient as one who achieves wellbeing through distancing themselves from the welfare state and progress toward waged work. Framed within the landscape of ‘psycho-politics’, wellbeing and unemployment are arguably entangled to legitimize current welfare policy, placing responsibility on individuals for economic and health security and dissolving concerns over austerity’s systemic impact