State, society and market in the aftermath of natural disasters in colonial India: a preliminary exploration

How did South Asian societies rebuild their economies following natural disasters? Based on five episodes from colonial India, this article suggests that between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth century, the response to disasters changed from laissez-faire to more state intervention. Despite this change, post-disaster rebuilding was complicated by unspecified rights to lost property, conflicting claims to property, asymmetric information between aid-givers and receivers, conflicts between agencies, lack of cooperation between gainers and losers, and in some of these examples, clashes between the colonial state and nationalist organisations

Fall fertilization of Pinus resinosa seedlings: nutrient uptake, cold hardiness, and morphological development

•  Fall fertilization may increase plant nutrient reserves, yet associated impacts on seedling cold hardiness are relatively unexplored. •  Bareroot red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) seedlings in north-central Minnesota, USA were fall fertilized at the end of the first growing season with ammonium nitrate (NH$_{4}$NO$_{3})$ at 0, 11, 22, 44, or 89 kg N ha$^{-1}$. Seedling morphology and cold hardiness [assessed by freeze induced electrolyte leakage (FIEL)] were evaluated six weeks after fertilization and following the second growing season. •  Seedling height and number of needle primordia increased with fertilizer rate for both sampling years. Seedlings fertilized with 44 and 89 kg N ha$^{-1}$ attained target height (15 cm) after the second growing season. Shoot and root N concentration increased after the first growing season in fall fertilized seedlings compared to controls. Fall fertilized seedlings had lower FIEL (i.e., increased cold hardiness) compared to controls when tested at –40 °C after the first growing season, but no significant differences in FIEL of control and fertilized seedlings were observed after the second growing season. •  Results suggest that fall fertilization of red pine seedlings can help render desired target height in the nursery, while maintaining or increasing cold hardiness levels.Fertilisation automnale des plants de Pinus resinosa : absorption des éléments nutritifs, rusticité au froid, et développement morphologique. • La fertilisation automnale peut augmenter les réserves en éléments nutritifs des plants, mais les répercussions sur la rusticité au froid des semis sont encore relativement inexplorées. •  Des plants à racines nues de Pinus resinosa Ait.dans le centre-nord du Minnesota (USA) ont été fertilisés à l'automne à la fin de la première saison de croissance avec du nitrate d'ammonium (NH$_{4}$NO$_{3})$ à 0, 11, 22, 44, ou 89 kg N ha$^{-1}$. La morphologie des plants et la rusticité au froid [estimée par la fuite d'électrolyte (FIEL) induite par le gel] ont été évaluées six semaines après la fertilisation et à la suite dans la deuxième saison de croissance. •  La hauteur des plants et le nombre de primordiums d'aiguilles ont augmenté avec le taux de fertilisation pour les deux années d'échantillonnage. Les plants fertilisés avec 44 et 89 kg N ha$^{-1}$ ont atteint l'objectif de hauteur (15 cm) après la deuxième saison de croissance. La concentration en N des tiges et des racines a augmenté après la première saison de croissance chez les plants fertilisés à l'automne par rapport aux témoins. Les plants fertilisés à l'automne ont eu un plus faible FIEL (c'est-à-dire, une augmentation de rusticité), comparativement aux témoins lors du test à –40 °C après la première saison de croissance, mais aucune différence significative de FIEL entre plants fertilisés et témoins n'a été observée après la deuxième saison de croissance. • Les résultats suggèrent que la fertilisation d'automne des plants de Pinus resinosa Ait. peut aider à obtenir l'objectif de hauteur souhaité dans la pépinière, tout en maintenant ou en augmentant les niveaux de rusticité au froid

Initial invasive or conservative strategy for stable coronary disease

BACKGROUND Among patients with stable coronary disease and moderate or severe ischemia, whether clinical outcomes are better in those who receive an invasive intervention plus medical therapy than in those who receive medical therapy alone is uncertain. METHODS We randomly assigned 5179 patients with moderate or severe ischemia to an initial invasive strategy (angiography and revascularization when feasible) and medical therapy or to an initial conservative strategy of medical therapy alone and angiography if medical therapy failed. The primary outcome was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, or hospitalization for unstable angina, heart failure, or resuscitated cardiac arrest. A key secondary outcome was death from cardiovascular causes or myocardial infarction. RESULTS Over a median of 3.2 years, 318 primary outcome events occurred in the invasive-strategy group and 352 occurred in the conservative-strategy group. At 6 months, the cumulative event rate was 5.3% in the invasive-strategy group and 3.4% in the conservative-strategy group (difference, 1.9 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.8 to 3.0); at 5 years, the cumulative event rate was 16.4% and 18.2%, respectively (difference, 121.8 percentage points; 95% CI, 124.7 to 1.0). Results were similar with respect to the key secondary outcome. The incidence of the primary outcome was sensitive to the definition of myocardial infarction; a secondary analysis yielded more procedural myocardial infarctions of uncertain clinical importance. There were 145 deaths in the invasive-strategy group and 144 deaths in the conservative-strategy group (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.32). CONCLUSIONS Among patients with stable coronary disease and moderate or severe ischemia, we did not find evidence that an initial invasive strategy, as compared with an initial conservative strategy, reduced the risk of ischemic cardiovascular events or death from any cause over a median of 3.2 years. The trial findings were sensitive to the definition of myocardial infarction that was used