Economic Diversification and Labour Utilization Among the Rural Elite of the British Mid-Atlantic Colonies: A Case Study from the Delaware Valley

With few exceptions, relatively little is known of the economic affairs of major eighteenth-century agriculturalists of the North Eastern seaboard. The article which follows is a contribution to our knowledge of this little-known subject. By concentrating on the activities of two leading members of the New Jersey gentry (Jacob Spicer and Aaron Learning), it shows that engaging in a variety of enterprises was crucial to their economic strategy. The author's two subjects undertook a varied array of business pursuits in addition to agriculture that included retailing, shipping, lumbering, milling, money lending, and even the encouragement of small-scale cottage industries. The profits of these supplementary activities grew until they exceeded the income received from producing foodstuffs. In addition, they managed to operate and improve their plantations without using gangs of unfree laborers. The careers of these two individuals suggest that continuing to view the northern, rural elite as a group whose basic economic orientation concerned the raising of foodstuffs for export will only distort the sweep of their economic activities. À l’exception de quelques faits, nous ne savons à peu près rien de la condition économique des gros cultivateurs de la côte nord-est des États-Unis durant le XVIIe siècle. L’article qui suit apporte sur ce sujet des éléments très intéressants. Portant son attention sur les activités de deux notables de la « gentry » du New Jersey (Jacob Spicer and Aaron Learning), l’auteur démontre que, pour mener à bien leur stratégie, il était capital qu’ils diversifient leurs entreprises. Les deux individus sur lesquels a porté l’enquête ont en effet des intérêts dans d’autres domaines que l’agriculture : la vente au détail, le transport maritime, l’industrie forestière, l’exploitation de moulins, le prêt d’argent, ou même l’artisanat local. Les profits tirés de ces activités crûrent à un point tel dans leurs cas qu’ils excédèrent ceux venant de la production de denrées agricoles. En outre, ils réussirent à augmenter la productivité de leurs plantations sans avoir recours aux services des esclaves ou engagés. L’examen de ces deux cas tend à démontrer qu’il n’est plus possible de continuer à voir les notables du Nord-est colonial comme un groupe dont la seule orientation était de cultiver des produits alimentaires en vue de l’exportation, cette vision des choses ne correspondant pas du tout à la réalité

The definite risks and questionable benefits of liberal pre-hospital spinal immobilisation

Introduction : The routine practice of pre-hospital spinal immobilisation (phSI) for patients with suspected spinal injury has existed for decades. However, the controversy surrounding it resulted in the 2013 publication of a Consensus document by the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care. The question remains as to whether the quality of evidence in the literature is sufficient to support the Consensus guidelines. This critical review aims to determine the validity of current recommendations by balancing the potential benefits and side effects of phSI. Method:  A review of the literature was carried out by two independent assessors using Medline, PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library databases. Manual searches of related journals and reference lists were also completed. The selected body of evidence was subsequently appraised using a checklist derived from SIGN and CASP guidelines, as well as Crombie's guide to critical appraisal. Results:   No reliable sources were found proving the benefit for patient immobilisation. In contrast there is strong evidence to show that pre-hospital spinal immobilisation is not benign with recognised complications ranging from discomfort to significant physiological compromise. The published literature supports the Consensus guideline recommendations for safely reducing the impact of these side effects without compromising the patient. Conclusion:   The literature supports the Consensus Guidelines but raises the question as to whether they go far enough as there is strong evidence to suggest phSI is an inherently harmful procedure without having any proven benefit. These results demonstrate an urgent need for further studies to determine its treatment effect.PostprintPeer reviewe

Integrating ecology into macroevolutionary research

On 9 March, over 150 biologists gathered in London for the Centre for Ecology and Evolution spring symposium, ‘Integrating Ecology into Macroevolutionary Research’. The event brought together researchers from London-based institutions alongside others from across the UK, Europe and North America for a day of talks. The meeting highlighted methodological advances and recent analyses of exemplar datasets focusing on the exploration of the role of ecological processes in shaping macroevolutionary patterns

ARTP statement on cardiopulmonary exercise testing 2021.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) has become an invaluable tool in healthcare, improving the diagnosis of disease and the quality, efficacy, assessment and safety of treatment across a range of pathologies. CPET's superior ability to measure the global exercise response of the respiratory, cardiovascular and skeletal muscle systems simultaneously in a time and cost-efficient manner has led to the application of CPET in a range of settings from diagnosis of disease to preoperative assessment. The Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology Statement on Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing 2021 provides the practitioner and scientist with an outstanding resource to support and enhance practice, from equipment to testing to leadership, helping them deliver a quality assured service for the benefit of all patient groups

Demonstration of Tryptophan-Like Fluorescence Sensor Concepts for Fecal Exposure Detection in Drinking Water in Remote and Resource Constrained Settings

Low-cost, field-deployable, near-time methods for assessing water quality are not available when and where waterborne infection risks are greatest. We describe the development and testing of a novel device for the measurement of tryptophan-like fluorescence (TLF), making use of recent advances in deep-ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) and sensitive semiconductor photodiodes and photomultipliers. TLF is an emerging indicator of water quality that is associated with members of the coliform group of bacteria and therefore potential fecal contamination. Following the demonstration of close correlation between TLF and E. coli in model waters and proof of principle with sensitivity of 4 CFU/mL for E. coli, we further developed a two-LED flow-through configuration capable of detecting TLF levels corresponding to &ldquo;high risk&rdquo; fecal contamination levels (&gt;10 CFU/100 mL). Findings to date suggest that this device represents a scalable solution for remote monitoring of drinking water supplies to identify high-risk drinking water in near-time. Such information can be immediately actionable to reduce risks.</p

Solstice: An Electronic Journal of Geography and Mathematics: Vol. 29, No. 1

This particular issue of Solstice is a Special Issue devoted to Meridian MS renaissance.Contains journal articles and one supporting animation for the cover to Volume XXIX, Number 1, of Solstice: An Electronic Journal of Geography and Mathematics.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144499/1/SolsticeJune2018Final.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144499/3/QRcover.gif284Description of SolsticeJune2018Final.pdf : Solstice, Vol. XXIX, No. 1.Description of QRcover.gif : Animation attached in pdf.Description of SolsticeJune2018Final.docx : Word file; base for pdf.Description of SolsticeJune2018Final.docx : Word file; base for pdf

Repurposing Treatments to Enhance Innate Immunity. Can Statins Improve Neutrophil Functions and Clinical Outcomes in COPD?

Drug classes used in the treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have not changed for many years, and none to date have shown disease-modifying activity. Statins are used to help reduce cardiovascular risk, which is high in many patients with COPD. Their use has been associated with improvements in some respiratory manifestations of disease and reduction in all-cause mortality, with greatest reductions seen in patients with the highest inflammatory burden. The mechanism for these effects is poorly understood. Neutrophils are key effector cells in COPD, and correlate with disease severity and inflammation. Recent in vitro studies have shown neutrophil functions are dysregulated in COPD and this is thought to contribute both to the destruction of lung parenchyma and to the poor responses seen in infective exacerbations. In this article, we will discuss the potential utility of statins in COPD, with a particular emphasis on their immune-modulatory effects as well as presenting new data regarding the effects of statins on neutrophil function in vitro

Shedding light on the ‘dark side’ of phylogenetic comparative methods

ORCID: 0000-0003-4919-8655© 2016 The Authors. Methods in Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The attached file is the published version of the article

The Supertree Tool Kit

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Large phylogenies are crucial for many areas of biological research. One method of creating such large phylogenies is the supertree method, but creating supertrees containing thousands of taxa, and hence providing a comprehensive phylogeny, requires hundred or even thousands of source input trees. Managing and processing these data in a systematic and error-free manner is challenging and will become even more so as supertrees contain ever increasing numbers of taxa. Protocols for processing input source phylogenies have been proposed to ensure data quality, but no robust software implementations of these protocols as yet exist.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The aim of the Supertree Tool Kit (STK) is to aid in the collection, storage and processing of input source trees for use in supertree analysis. It is therefore invaluable when creating supertrees containing thousands of taxa and hundreds of source trees. The STK is a Perl module with executable scripts to carry out various steps in the processing protocols. In order to aid processing we have added meta-data, via XML, to each tree which contains information such as the bibliographic source information for the tree and how the data were derived, for instance the character data used to carry out the original analysis. These data are essential parts of previously proposed protocols.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The STK is a bioinformatics tool designed to make it easier to process source phylogenies for inclusion in supertree analysis from hundreds or thousands of input source trees, whilst reducing potential errors and enabling easy sharing of such datasets. It has been successfully used to create the largest known supertree to date containing over 5000 taxa from over 700 source phylogenies.</p