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This paper investigates the history of a discursive figure that one could call the intelligent whaler. I argue that this figure's success was made possible by the construal and public distribution of whaling intelligence in an important currency of science – facts – in the preparatory phase for the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). The strongest case for the necessity of the enterprise was New England whalers who were said to cruise uncharted parts of the oceans and whose discoveries of uncharted islands were reported in the local press. The document that stood at the core of the lobbying for an expedition was a table that newspaperman and public lecturer Jeremiah Reynolds had compiled after interviewing whaling captains in the country's principal whaling ports. Presenting whalers' experience in tabular and synoptic form, Reynolds's table helped forge the figure of the 'intelligent whaler', a mariner who had better geographical knowledge than other seafarers. By investigating the paper technologies that produced the 'intelligent whaler', this paper shows how Reynolds's translation of 'whaling intelligence' from news into facts marks the beginning of the intelligent whaler's long career in US-American debates about expansionism, exploration and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the demise of the Crompton Company, which filed for bankruptcy in October 1984, causing 2,450 workers in five states to lose their jobs. Crompton was founded in 1807 in Providence, Rhode Island and when it went out of business it was the oldest textile firm in the country, having been in continuous operation for 178 years. Despite its history, scholars have overlooked Crompton, partly because most work on deindustrialization has concentrated on heavy manufacturing industries, especially steel and automobiles. I argue that Crompton's demise throws much light on the broader decline of the American textile and apparel industry, which has lost over two million jobs since the mid-1970s, and shows that textiles deserve a more central place in the literature. Using company papers, this study shows that imports played the central role in causing Crompton's decline, although there were also other problems, including the strong dollar, declining exports, and a reluctance to diversify, which contributed to it. The paper also explores broader trends, including the earlier flight of the industry from New England to the South and the industry's unsuccessful campaign to pass import-restriction legislation, a fight in which Crompton's managers were very involved. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Low-Back-Merger Shift (LBMS) is a major North American vowel chain shift spreading across many disparate dialect regions. In this field-based study, we examine the speech of fifty-nine White Western Massachusetts speakers, aged 18–89. Using diagnostics in Becker (2019) and Boberg (2019b), we find the LBMS emerging at the expense of the Northern Cities Shift (Labov, Yaeger, & Steiner, 1972) and traditional New England features (Boberg, 2001; Kurath, 1939; Nagy & Roberts, 2004). In Becker's LBMS model (2019:9), the low-back merger (lot-thought) triggers front-vowel shifts. Our results suggest that local social meaning can sometimes override this chronology such that the front-vowel shifts occur before the low-back merger, even as the overall configuration comes to match Becker's predictions. Sociosymbolic meaning associated with the older New England system has led to a different temporal ordering of LBMS components, thus providing new theoretical and empirical insights into the mechanisms by which supralocal patterns are adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the politics of disputing in complaint hearings held by the court clerk in a district criminal court in Massachusetts. By examining struggles over the meaning of local conflicts, it suggests the implications of detailed studies of dispute processing for our understanding of how systems of legal and social meanings are constituted and reproduced. The paper argues that the work of the court, the roles played by court officials, and the meaning of law and of community at particular moments in time are shaped in the interaction of court staff with local citizens. At the same time, it argues that these interactions are constrained by culturally and historically embedded relations of class, ethnicity, and power. Thus the paper suggests how the practice of complaint hearings both reproduces and transforms systemic inequalities and oppositions, and points to the importance of interactive rather than dichotomizing approaches for studying the interconnection and interpenetration of law with society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Puritan layman Samuel Sewall (d. 1730) is perhaps best known as a diarist and as a repentant judge in the Salem witchcraft trials. But he was also the author of Phaenomena quaedam apocalyptica (first edition 1697), a work which argued that the New Jerusalem would arise in Mexico City. Sewall's unusual millennial doctrine may seem undeserving of study, for no other American Puritan thought that the New Jerusalem would first appear in Mexico City or anywhere else in New Spain. Yet when properly contextualized, the Mexican millennium is worth investigating for two reasons. First, it accentuates what the American Puritan millenarian mainstream, best exemplified by John Cotton, Increase Mather, and Cotton Mather, believed about the coming kingdom. Second, the Mexican millennium, like the mainstream position, challenges the academic claim that American Puritan millenarians characteristically believed that they were destined to inaugurate the millennial kingdom in New England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between a distinctive early modern city, Boston, Massachusetts, and the dramatic expansion of the production and consumption of intoxicants in the emergent Atlantic world. In particular, it attempts to draw together two strands of Boston's history seldom considered together: its origins as an aspirational settlement of English puritans aiming to build a godly city, and the deep involvement of its merchants and consumers in the overseas trade in intoxicants – tobacco, sugar, rum, wine, coffee, tea, chocolate, and others. By considering the cultures of consumption associated with godliness alongside other clusters of consumption in which intoxicants also played a part, it attempts to open new avenues for thinking about the many ways in which new forms and objects of desire transformed the economy and material culture of early modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an analysis of the influence of blacksmiths, and saw and grain millers on the development of Puritan communities in the Massachusetts Bay Colony between 1630 and 1660. During this period these artisans played a significant role in defining the physical form of the rural Puritan town and its economic development, without intent and in a social and cultural climate where they were often disliked and distrusted. This article focuses on the impacts of these manufacturers on the formation and physical character of Puritan communities in New England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the development of industrial structure in southern New England. Information on the manufacturing growth of New England; Details on the manufacturing industries of New England; Reason for the superior national economic performance of Connecticut.

At its late Pleistocene maximum, the Laurentide Ice Sheet was the largest ice mass on Earth and a key player in the modulation of global climate and sea level. At the same time, this temperate ice sheet was itself sensitive to climate, and high-magnitude fluctuations in ice extent, reconstructed from relict glacial deposits, reflect past changes in atmospheric temperature. Here, we present a cosmogenic 10Be surface-exposure chronology for the Berlin moraines in the White Mountains of northern New Hampshire, USA, which supports the model that deglaciation of New England was interrupted by a pronounced advance of ice during the Bølling-Allerød. Together with recalculated 10Be ages from the southern New England coast, the expanded White Mountains moraine chronology also brackets the timing of ice sheet retreat in this sector of the Laurentide. In conjunction with existing chronological data, the moraine ages presented here suggest that deglaciation was widespread during Heinrich Stadial 1 event (~18–14.7 ka) despite apparently cold marine conditions in the adjacent North Atlantic. As part of the White Mountains moraine system, the Berlin chronology also places a new terrestrial constraint on the former glacial configuration during the marine incursion of the St. Lawrence River valley north of the White Mountains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responds to a commentary on the Draper Automatic Loom in New England during the early 1900s. Estimated production costs in cotton textile manufacturing; Capital costs in replacing machinery with Draper variety.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of an online, interactive intervention, referred to as the Green Eating (GE) Project, to motivate university students to adopt GE behaviours.Design: The study was quasi-experimental and integrated into courses for credit/extra credit. Courses were randomly stratified into experimental or non-treatment control. The 5-week intervention consisted of four modules based on different GE topics. Participants completed the GE survey at baseline (experimental, n 241; control, n 367) and post (experimental, n 187; control, n 304). The GE survey has been previously validated and consists of Transtheoretical Model constructs including stage of change (SOC), decisional balance (DB: Pros and Cons) and self-efficacy (SE: School and Home) as well as behaviours for GE. Modules contained basic information regarding each topic and knowledge items to assess content learning.Setting: The GE Project took place at a public university in the north-eastern USA.Subjects: Participants were full-time students between the ages of 18 and 24 years.Results: The GE Project was effective in significantly increasing GE behaviours, DB Pros, SE School and knowledge in experimental compared with control, but did not reduce DB Cons or increase SE Home. Experimental participants were also more likely to be in later SOC for GE at post testing.Conclusions: The GE Project was effective in increasing GE behaviours in university students. Motivating consumers towards adopting GE could assist in potentially mitigating negative consequences of the food system on the environment. Future research could tailor the intervention to participant SOC to further increase the effects or design the modules for other participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weeds are a major challenge for organic farmers, yet we know little about the factors influencing organic farmers’ weed management decisions. We hypothesized that farmers and scientist ‘experts’ differ in fundamental areas of knowledge and perceptions regarding weeds and weed management. Moreover, these differences prevent effective communication, outreach programming and research prioritization. An expert mental model, constructed primarily from interviews with research scientists and extension professionals, revealed expert emphasis on knowledge of ecological weed management as crucial for successfully implementing such strategies. We interviewed 23 organic farmers in northern New England, yielding an aggregate farmer mental model to compare with the expert model. Farmers demonstrated knowledge of the major concepts discussed by experts, but differed in emphasis. Farmers placed less emphasis on ecological complexity than experts. One-third of farmers interviewed discussed the potential role of weeds as indicators of soil nutrient status, a concept of which experts were skeptical. Farmer beliefs about the weed seedbank highlighted potential misconceptions regarding seed persistence, with one-fourth of farmers focusing on the concept that seeds can live for an exceptionally long time in the soil, while experts focused on the concept of the seed half-life. Farmers emphasized the role of experience, both their own and that of other farmers, rather than knowledge derived from scientific research. Farmers considered yield and the cost of time and labor as equally at risk because of weeds, whereas experts predominantly discussed yield loss. During discussions of management, both farmers and experts most emphasized risks associated with cultivation and benefits associated with cover cropping. These results have prompted us, first, to develop new educational materials focused on weed seed longevity and management of the weed seedbank, and, second, to conduct regional focus groups with farmers who prioritize fertility management in their efforts to control weeds, especially manipulations of soil calcium and magnesium. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers highlights of various meetings of the New England History of Economic Thought Club in 1978. On April 3, the topic covered Mountifort Longfield and on May 15, translations of the "Wealth of Nations." Announcements of future meetings and topics are offered, including one on October 16 on Nigerian nationalism, one on November 6 on the French 19th century thought, and one on December 4 on "Mill's Moral Theory and the Problem of Preference Change."

Traditional eastern New England (ENE) dialect features are rapidly receding in many parts of northern New England. Because this ENE shift involves seven different phonological features, it provides a prime opportunity to explore different rates of change across multiple linguistic variables at the same time in the same social setting. The present study is the first acoustic sociophonetic investigation of central New Hampshire, and it is based on new field data from 51 adult speakers. Results show that young generations are discarding many traditional ENE pronunciations in favor of leveled, nonregional forms, yet the changes are affecting some variables more quickly than others. Many distinctive traditional ENE variants (nonrhotic speech, intrusive-r, fronted father, “broad-a” in bath) are quickly receding, while others (fronted start and hoarse/horse distinction) are somewhat more conservative, being “overshadowed” by the presence of (r) as a variable within the same syllable. We frame our apparent-time analysis in terms of Sankoff's (2013a) notion of “age vectors” and Labov's (2012) “outward orientation” of the language faculty, illustrating how different generations are juggling multiple age vectors within the same overall shift, and how one variable can overshadow another variable within the same syllable. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The dictatorial Dominion of New England (1686–1689) saw the rise and fall of the first operational bank scheme in America. Both events resulted from the appointed rulers' attempts to personally profit from real estate, subject to an absolutist constitution imposed by England. The first, local ruler led a nominally private land bank. The subsequent, foreign ruler invalidated all land titles and thus killed the bank. This unusual case study exemplifies an extension of Mancur Olson's model of stationary and roving bandits, and demonstrates how economic development can be affected in different ways by different types of dictators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BackgroundAnxiety disorders are very common and increase risk for suicide attempts. Little is known about predictors of increased risk specifically among individuals with anxiety disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether specific anxiety disorders and other co-morbid psychiatric disorders, physical health, or work or social functioning increased the future likelihood of a suicide attempts among individuals with anxiety disorders.MethodIn this prospective study, 676 individuals with an anxiety disorder were followed for an average of 12 years.ResultsAs hypothesized, we found that post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), intermittent depressive disorder (IDD), epilepsy, pain, and poor work and social functioning all predicted a shorter time to a suicide attempt in univariate analyses. In multivariate analyses, baseline MDD and IDD were independent predictors of time to suicide attempt, even when controlling for a past history of suicide attempt. No specific anxiety disorder was an independent predictor of time to attempt in this anxiety-disordered sample. Adding baseline physical health variables and social functioning did not improve the ability of the model to predict time to suicide attempt.ConclusionsMood disorders and past history of suicide attempts are the most powerful predictors of a future suicide attempt in this sample of individuals, all of whom have an anxiety disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BackgroundPersons developing schizophrenia (SCZ) manifest various pre-morbid neuropsychological deficits, studied most often by measures of IQ. Far less is known about pre-morbid neuropsychological functioning in individuals who later develop bipolar psychoses (BP). We evaluated the specificity and impact of family history (FH) of psychosis on pre-morbid neuropsychological functioning.MethodWe conducted a nested case-control study investigating the associations of neuropsychological data collected systematically at age 7 years for 99 adults with psychotic diagnoses (including 45 SCZ and 35 BP) and 101 controls, drawn from the New England cohort of the Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP). A mixed-model approach evaluated full-scale IQ, four neuropsychological factors derived from principal components analysis (PCA), and the profile of 10 intelligence and achievement tests, controlling for maternal education, race and intra-familial correlation. We used a deviant responder approach (<10th percentile) to calculate rates of impairment.ResultsThere was a significant linear trend, with the SCZ group performing worst. The profile of childhood deficits for persons with SCZ did not differ significantly from BP. Neuropsychological impairment was identified in 42.2% of SCZ, 22.9% of BP and 7% of controls. The presence of psychosis in first-degree relatives (FH+) significantly increased the severity of childhood impairment for SCZ but not for BP.ConclusionsPre-morbid neuropsychological deficits are found in a substantial proportion of children who later develop SCZ, especially in the SCZ FH+ subgroup, but less so in BP, suggesting especially impaired neurodevelopment underlying cognition in pre-SCZ children. Future work should assess genetic and environmental factors that explain this FH effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand for locally and regionally produced meat has stimulated increased interest in livestock production among New England farmers. The region's livestock producers lament lack of access to slaughter and processing infrastructure. However, there is very little research on New England's slaughter industry to document this perceived problem. For this reason, we tested the hypothesis that a shortage of slaughter and processing infrastructure constrains the production of livestock for meat in New England. The region's large animal slaughter facility owners and managers were surveyed to determine current slaughter and processing capacity and identify challenges facilities face in meeting increased producer demand. The estimates of current capacity were then compared to USDA data on livestock slaughter and large animal marketings. The region's existing abattoirs could slaughter 63–84% of all animals marketed, but could process only 29–43%. New England's infrastructure for slaughter operated at only 38% of total physical capacity in 2009, while on-site processing infrastructure operated at 66% of total physical capacity (78% if only on-site inspected capacity is considered). Moreover, surveys with facility operators showed that the primary constraints faced by existing slaughterhouses are a shortage of skilled labor and the seasonality of the livestock industry, with periods of very high demand for slaughter in the fall and very low demand in the spring and early summer. Additional infrastructure, particularly for processing, would be needed were regional livestock production to increase. However, simply increasing physical capacity will not address the issues of labor availability and demand seasonality expressed by slaughter facility owners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundElectronic medical records (EMR) provide a unique opportunity for efficient, large-scale clinical investigation in psychiatry. However, such studies will require development of tools to define treatment outcome.MethodNatural language processing (NLP) was applied to classify notes from 127 504 patients with a billing diagnosis of major depressive disorder, drawn from out-patient psychiatry practices affiliated with multiple, large New England hospitals. Classifications were compared with results using billing data (ICD-9 codes) alone and to a clinical gold standard based on chart review by a panel of senior clinicians. These cross-sectional classifications were then used to define longitudinal treatment outcomes, which were compared with a clinician-rated gold standard.ResultsModels incorporating NLP were superior to those relying on billing data alone for classifying current mood state (area under receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.85–0.88 v. 0.54–0.55). When these cross-sectional visits were integrated to define longitudinal outcomes and incorporate treatment data, 15% of the cohort remitted with a single antidepressant treatment, while 13% were identified as failing to remit despite at least two antidepressant trials. Non-remitting patients were more likely to be non-Caucasian (p<0.001).ConclusionsThe application of bioinformatics tools such as NLP should enable accurate and efficient determination of longitudinal outcomes, enabling existing EMR data to be applied to clinical research, including biomarker investigations. Continued development will be required to better address moderators of outcome such as adherence and co-morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research focused on consumer behavior and attitudes toward organic, small-scale and locally produced foods can help organic producers understand consumer values, and in turn develop production and marketing approaches that match these values. This research on New England area food shoppers included focus groups, individual interviews, and a mail survey, all of which helped us to identify relationships between organic food buying and consumers' views of the food system. Comments made in focus groups and individual interviews revealed a frequent blending of the concepts of local, small-scale and organic, and their associated benefits. Subsequent mail surveys identified similar tendencies, although respondents made some distinctions among the reasons why they bought food from the three farm categories. When there were differences, respondents tended to attribute greater importance to reasons to buy from local farms, as compared to organic or small farms. The six questions for which the differences across farm categories had the lowest P-values were related to the environment, rural economy, rural landscape, farmers, product freshness and product taste. However, freshness, taste, nutritional quality and safety were some of the most compelling reasons that were attributed to all three farm categories. The challenge for the small, local and organic producer will be to continue to hold the consumer's attention as the general perception of organic farming shifts to a more industrialized model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the politics of the "Salary Grab" of 1873, legislation that increased congressional salaries retroactively by 50 percent. A group of New England and Midwestern elites opposed the Salary Grab, along with congressional franking and patronage-based civil service appointments, as part of a reform effort to reshape "who should govern Congress." Our analyses of congressional voting confirm the existence of this nonparty elite coalition. Although these elites lost many legislative battles in the short run, their efforts kept reform on the legislative agenda throughout the late nineteenth century and ultimately set the stage for the Progressive movement in the early twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite elevating Alexis de Tocqueville to iconic status in our national debate on civic engagement, we have frequently neglected the range and depth of his associational thought. In this essay, I trace the early manifestations and evolution from 1828 to 1840 of his understanding of the commune or township, a featured source of public participation and cohesion within his larger associational lexicon. I show how his reflections on local liberties, in general, and the New England township, in particular, inspired and helped to shape both volumes of his Democracy in America. I emphasize the degree to which Tocqueville saw the participatory vector originating in the township's political life as galvanizing an ardent civic spirit leading to cultural, intellectual, and economic achievements. I conclude by seeking to connect lessons gleaned from Tocqueville's township to contemporary strategies to strengthen citizen participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates trends in wealth inequality in New England from 1820 to 1910. Why inequality grew; Three measures of inequality to examine long-run changes in the distribution of wealth; Conclusion.

Explores the soil testing practices and interests of organic farmers in New England. Factors that influence the use of soil evaluation tools; Perception of farmers on soil evaluation tools; Trend in the assessment of biological activity through laboratory or on-farm tests among farmers; Usefulness of formalized tests to farm and soil quality management.

Summarizes several doctoral dissertations. Assessment on the performance of manufacturers in Canada between 1902 and 1990; Details on the deindustrialization during the decline of the New England textile industry between 1920 and 1960; Development of the demand for health insurance in the twentieth century.

The article focuses on the life and works of political activist Orestes A. Brownson. Brownson is best remembered as a publicist, a career which spanned his affiliation with the New England Transcendentalists, through his subsequent conversion to Catholicism. Details on his voluminous writings are also considered.

Examines the economic growth and standard of living in New England based on a sample of probated estates in Connecticut and Massachusetts from 1640 to 1774. Wealth growth during the colonial period; Factors that contributed to the growth of the white population of New England.

Examines the cotton textiles industry in New England in the 20th century. Factory production of textiles; Sources of economic growth.

Provides information on banks in New England which function as financial arms of extended kinship networks. Economic significance of the banking industry; Details of favoritism in credit markets; Relationship between banks and economic development.

Traces existing commercial bank balance sheets for New England for the period 1785-1837. Steps involved in the process of estimating missing data; Importance of developing such a database for the reexamination of both microeconomic and macroeconomic issues.

Discusses the mortality rate among cotton mill workers in New England during the Progressive Era. Reasons for the variation in mortality rates among groups.

Attempts to make a contribution to the debate about the timing and extent of market orientation in pre-industrial New England agriculture. Brief overview of the debate; Existence of conflicts of interest.

Examines the rate of economic growth in colonial New England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Rate of agricultural productivity; Areas of particular importance to colonial scholars.

Provides information on the economic history of New England. Details of labor force; Discussion on wages and work compensation; Economic growth status of the country.

Offers an approach to 'self' as a historical subject in New England. Discussions on selfhood and identity; Emphasis on the sociological meaning of self between the Revolution and the Civil War; Indication of conceptions on self through the pervasiveness of the vocabulary.

Discusses the uprooting of people from ancestral ways and places as a prerequisite of modernization. Investigations of domestic and international migration in New England; Examples of early-modern mobility studies; Extent of colonial rerooting; Traditionalist motives for crossing the Atlantic; Vitality of early modern migration studies; Trauma of uprooting and transatlantic relocation.

Discusses prevailing accounts of New England's response to the Draper Company's automatic shuttle-changing loom in the late 1800s. Diffusion of the Draper loom; Estimates on the profitability of adopting the Draper loom; Factors affecting the adoption of the loom.

Deals with issues on trade and transportation in North America in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Market response to vegetable potash production in New England; Overview of lumber trade; Categorization schemes used to group commodities.

Introduction: The blackout in North America of August 2003 was one of the worst on record. It affected eight US states and parts of Canada for >24 hours. Additionally, two large US cities, Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio, suffered from a loss of water pressure and a subsequent ban on the use of public supplies of potable water that lasted four days. A literature review revealed a paucity of literature that describes blackouts and how they may affect the medical community., Methods: This paper includes a review of after-action reports from four inner-city, urban hospitals supplemented accounts from the authors' hospital's emergency operations center (EOC)., Results: Some of the problems encountered, included: (1)lighting; (2) elevator operations; (3) supplies of water; (4) communication operations; (5) computer failure; (6) lack of adequate supplies of food; (7) mobility to obtain X-ray studies; (8) heating, air condition, and ventilation; (9) staffing; (10) pharmacy; (11) registration of patients; (12) hospital EOC; (13) loss of isolation facilities; (14) inadequate supplies of paper; (15) impaired ability to provide care for non-emergency patients; (16) sanitation; and (17) inadequate emergency power., Discussion: The blackout of 2003 uncovered problems within the US hospital system, ranging from staffing to generator coverage. This report is a review of the effects that the blackout and water ban of 2003 had on hospitals in a large inner-city area. Also discussed are solutions utilized at the time and recommendations for the future., Conclusion: The blackout of 2003 was an excellent test of disaster/emergency planning, and produced many valuable lessons to be used in future events.

Clinical practice guidelines have been available to clinicians for almost two decades, but the consistency of their implementation in practice remains highly variable. This paper describes the various processes and mechanisms used by one managed care organization to develop clinical guidelines and promote their adoption. Some of these mechanisms include provision of individual physician report cards, financial incentives, and various documentation tools that serve as reminders of guideline recommendations and provide an easy format to document recommended services. There have been measurement challenges in evaluating the effectiveness of selected interventions designed to enhance guideline compliance. Most of these challenges relate to reliability and validity concerns regarding the three primary data sources used in the evaluation process: medical records, administrative claims data, and member survey data. Some of the interventions the health plan has implemented to address these measurement challenges include using hybrid methods of data collection and developing collaborative partnerships with outside organizations to enhance the accuracy and completeness of the available data. Outcomes of these efforts are described, as are physician response and recommendations for future enhancement of practice guidelines.