"That Extensive Enterprise": HMS Herald's North Pacific Survey, 1845-1851

Despite its enormous scope, the survey of HMS Herald, like most British scientific voyages after the time of Captain Cook, is little known. This article's discussion of naturalist Berthold Seemann's accounts of the voyage challenges the impression, still common in some naval history circles, that there is a difference between scientific expeditions and other naval activities (that is, between science and politics). The article considers evidence of imperial aesthetics in Seemann's responses to landscape and notes connections between the collection of scientific data and the interests of British commercial and political expansion. Examination of Seemann's racial views shows that, just as he viewed landscape and natural resources with an imperial eye, so he judged other peoples by his own standards of achievement and "improvability.

Christianity, masculinity and authority in the life of George Sarawia

George Sarawia was ordained in 1873 as the first Melanesian Anglican priest. This article presents preliminary research findings concerning the various constructs of masculinity deployed by Sarawia, his indigenous community, and the mission. A high-ranking member of the indigenous men's society, and part of an extended family, Sarawaia integrated Christian concepts of brotherhood and fatherhood with controversial results. Some of his fellow missionaries accused him of leading his people more as an indigenous big-man than as a priest. The article contends that the career of George Sarawia revealed a negotiation, rather than an imposition, of masculinities reflecting indigenous as well as western priorities.George Sarawia, ordonné en 1873, a été le premier prêtre anglican de Mélanésie. Cet article présente des résultats de recherche préliminaires sur les divers concepts de virilité élaborés par Sarawia, sa communauté indigène et sa mission. Membre de haut rang de la société masculine indigène et membre d’une famille élargie, Sarawia a intégré dans son ministère les concepts chrétiens de fraternité et de paternité, mais avec des résultats controversés. Il s’est d’ailleurs fait accuser par certains confrères missionnaires d’encadrer ses paroissiens davantage comme un aîné indigène que comme un prêtre. L’étude de la carrière de George Sarawia révèle en fait sa volonté non pas d’imposer des notions de masculinité mais de chercher des compromis reflétant les priorités indigènes tout autant qu’occidentals

Lord Mansfield and Negotiable Instruments

In any system of judge-made law the longevity, education and character of a judge have enhanced significance. The idea of a judge personifies Justice, blinded and impartial, but the law he creates will inevitably be infused with his personality. Where an individual develops an entire system of law, his contribution to legal history can be overwhelming. Lord Mansfield remains a case in point

A systematic review of the evidence of how hospitals capture financial benefits of process improvement and the impact on hospital financial performance

Background: Governments, funders and hospital managers around the world are looking for ways to address the continual growth in expenditure by reducing the level of waste in the healthcare delivery system and improving the value of care provided to patients. Process improvement methods are applied to increase high value care, reduce low value care and remove waste from care processes. The purpose of this study is to review the literature to identify the methods used by hospitals to measure and capture financial benefits from PI initiatives to identify best practice. The review also pursues the way hospitals collate these benefits at the enterprise level to achieve improved financial performance. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken in line with the PRISMA process and employed qualitative research methods. Databases searched were Medline, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINHAL), Web of Science and SCOPUS. The initial search was conducted in in July 2021 with a follow up search conducted in February 2023 using the same search terms and databases to identify additional studies published in the intervening period. The search terms were identified through the PICO (Participants, Interventions, Comparisons and Outcomes) method. Results: Seven papers were identified that reported reduction in care process waste or improvement of the value of care using an evidence-based PI approach and included financial benefits analysis. Positive financial impact was measured for the PI initiatives but none of the studies reported how these financial benefits were captured or applied at the enterprise level. Three of the studies suggested that sophisticated cost accounting systems were required to enable this. Conclusion: The study demonstrates the paucity of literature in the field of PI and financial benefits measurement in healthcare. Where financial benefits are documented, they vary in terms of cost inclusions and the ‘level’ at which the costs were measured. Further research on best practice financial measurement methods is needed to enable other hospitals to measure and capture financial benefits arising from their PI programs

A Weft Knit Data Glove

Rehabilitation of stoke survivors can be expedited by employing an exoskeleton. The exercises are designed such that both hands move in synergy. In this regard often motion capture data from the healthy hand is used to derive control behaviour for the exoskeleton. Therefore, data gloves can provide a low-cost solution for the motion capture of the joints in the hand. However, current data gloves are bulky, inaccurate or inconsistent. These disadvantages are inherited because the conventional design of a glove involves an external attachment that degrades overtime and causes inaccuracies. This paper presents a weft knit data glove whose sensors and support structure are manufactured in the same fabrication process thus removing the need for an external attachment. The glove is made by knitting multifilament conductive yarn and an elastomeric yarn using WholeGarment technology. Furthermore, we present a detailed electromechanical model of the sensors alongside its experimental validation. Additionally, the reliability of the glove is verified experimentally. Lastly, machine learning algorithms are implemented for classifying the posture of hand on the basis of sensor data histograms

A multi-sectoral approach to providing reproductive health information and services to young people in Western Kenya: The Kenya adolescent reproductive health project

Informing adolescents about appropriate and acceptable behaviors, and ways to protect themselves against unwanted and unprotected sex, has proved problematic in Kenya. Education programs for in- and out-of-school adolescents are lacking, there is controversy about providing services to sexually active adolescents, and a pervasive concern that sexuality education and contraceptive services leads to promiscuity. Unbiased and accurate information and services are needed if adolescents are to delay becoming sexually active, to resist pressures to engage in nonconsensual sex, and to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies and infections if they do have sex. Moreover, strategies for providing such information and services need to be acceptable to the community and sustainable over time. The Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program and the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health Kenya office collaborated with three government of Kenya ministries to design and implement a multisectoral project to improve knowledge about reproductive health and encourage a responsible and healthy attitude toward sexuality among adolescents, delay the onset of sexual activity among younger adolescents, and decrease risky behaviors among sexually active adolescents. Three interventions were implemented and evaluated in two districts in Western Province and this report presents findings that directly evaluate and cost the interventions

Early engagement of stakeholders with individual-based modelling can inform research for improving invasive species management : the round goby as a case study

FUNDING We are grateful to the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/J008001/1) for financial supportPeer reviewedPublisher PD