Background: Surgical mortality data are collected routinely in high-income countries, yet virtually no low-or middle-income countries have outcome surveillance in place. The aim was prospectively to collect worldwide mortality data following emergency abdominal surgery, comparing findings across countries with a low, middle or high Human Development Index (HDI).Methods: This was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study. Self-selected hospitals performing emergency surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive patients from at least one 2-week interval during July to December 2014. Postoperative mortality was analysed by hierarchical multivariable logistic regression.

The aim of this study is to examine the Nomination Committee (NC) in Maltese listed companies. The study achieves this by assessing the Maltese regulatory framework relating to this Committee, as well as its roles, status and effectiveness. A predominantly qualitative mixed methodology was employed to achieve these objectives. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were held with two financial analysts, two MFSA representatives, eight audit firm representatives and 13 representatives of Maltese Listed Companies (MLCs) Research findings show that the NC is not as yet not well established among MLCs. There is a particular lack of insistence on the part of local regulatory authorities, as well as substantial resistance from listed companies, with regard to the adoption of this committee. Furthermore, most NCs in such companies are not performing all of the roles listed in their Code while the roles currently performed may need to be carried out in a more structured manner. Yet it is highly worthwhile for such companies to devote more attention to the NC, this being one of the best possible bastions of appropriate corporate governance. The change in the status of the NC from being merely recommended by the Code of Principles of Good Corporate Governance to becoming mandatory by the Listing Rules is increasingly called for. In this way, Maltese listed companies will need to embrace such a change. It is hoped that this study will contribute towards fostering more awareness about the NC and the corporate governance of Maltese listed companies.

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This study will focus on the persistence of 'pre-modern' forms of religious belief in a secular age. By examining in detail the process of canonisation of St. George Preca, the first Maltese saint, this study will explore concepts of the self and relations to the body in a Catholic modernity. The focus on miracles and canonisation in a context other than that of a North Atlantic modernity also allows me to highlight the need to understand the complex relationships among: (i) the official church and believers; (ii) the local elite and the populace; and ultimately, (iii) between religion and science. Lastly, in keeping with the phenomenological and experiential imperatives shared with the contributors to this volume, I conclude this article by outlining what, through an intimate engagement with the religious beliefs of 'others', I have come to believe miracles are about: True body event.

Mysticism has long featured in discussions among psychoanalysts and mental health practitioners, anthropologists and scholars of religion. In this paper I analyse the life and visions of a twentieth century mystic in the Catholic Mediterranean. Through this case study I seek to compare the psychoanalytic and to a lesser extent the psychiatric discussions of ‘hallucinations’ with the theological explanations of visions. Via a Lacanian discussion of the case of the first Maltese saint I argue that there are interesting points of convergence between the two. An adequate understanding of the cultural context within which visions are articulated as meaningful experiences is essential to our understanding and clinical treatment of people presenting symptoms associated with religious content. A psychoanalytical understanding can serve to enrich and enliven theological discussions on madness as a path to sanctity.