A long slow tutelage in Western ways of work: industrial education and the containment of nationalism in Anglo-Iranian and ARAMCO, 1923-1963

This dissertation examines the historical processes through which two global petroleum companies developed a wide range of training and education programs within their concessions to enable the replacement of imported expatriate labor with skilled host country nationals. Whereas company historians and annuitants would later portray these programs as examples of wisdom and generosity, this study demonstrates that corporate agendas for human resource development were reactive and represented the companies' efforts to minimize capital outlays while retarding the growth of labor activism within the concessions. The British Petroleum Company, known first as the Anglo-Persian and then as the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), produced oil in commercial quantities within its Persian concession for an entire decade before initiating formal education and training programs for Persian staff in 1923. The Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) began commercial oil production within its Saudi Arabian concession in 1939 but only embarked upon an intensive training program for Arab labor ten years later. The rise of political nationalism in combination with labor activism compelled both companies to establish, or financially support, dedicated training institutes for host country nationals along with elementary schools for the children of local employees and expatriate staff. Taking these gross similarities between AIOC and Aramco programs as a starting point for further comparative analysis, this study attempts to explain the timing, influences, institutions and effects of these programs as they evolved within the local contexts of Southern Persia and Eastern Saudi Arabia. As the first study to take an explicitly comparative approach to the history of education and training in the petroleum industry, this dissertation makes a unique historiographical contribution to the study of commerce on the global mineral frontier. Bringing to bear previously unused archival materials from participants in the ARAMCO training and education programs, and taking a fresh look at archival materials from the AIOC programs, it argues that the programs in AIOC and Aramco are two instances of a more general phenomenon in which global corporations were compelled by the politics of emergent nationalism and labor activism to develop human capital within their local operating environments.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 230-245)

Treatment of Unspecific Back Pain in Children and Adolescents: Results of an Evidence-Based Interdisciplinary Guideline

Using a structured approach and expert consensus, we developed an evidence-based guideline on the treatment and prevention of non-specific back pain in children and adolescents. A comprehensive and systematic literature search identified relevant guidelines and studies. Based on the findings of this literature search, recommendations on treatment and prevention were formulated and voted on by experts in a structured consensus-building process. Physical therapy (particularly physical activity) and psychotherapy (particularly cognitive behavioral therapy) are recommended for treating pediatric non-specific back pain. Intensive interdisciplinary treatment programs should be provided for chronic and severe pain. Drug therapy should not be applied in children and adolescents. Further research on non-specific back pain in childhood and adolescence is strongly needed to reduce the imbalance between the high burden of non-specific back pain in childhood and adolescence and the low research activity in this field

Etiology, Risk Factors, and Diagnosis of Back Pain in Children and Adolescents: Evidence- and Consensus-Based Interdisciplinary Recommendations

Using a structured approach and expert consensus, we developed an evidence-based guideline on the diagnosis of back pain and the treatment of non-specific back pain in children and adolescents. The first part comprises etiology, risk factors, and diagnosis. The second part, published in the same issue, includes treatment and prevention. A comprehensive and systematic literature search was conducted to identify relevant guidelines and studies. Based on the findings of this literature search, recommendations on risk factors and diagnosis were formulated and voted on by experts in a structured consensus-building process. Notable red flags for specific back pain and evidence-based risk factors for non-specific back pain in children and adolescents were identified. Only three evidence-based recommendations could be formulated for causes, red flags, and risk factors for back pain, while two recommendations are based on expert consensus. Regarding diagnostics, eight expert consensus recommendations and one evidence-based recommendation could be provided. Despite the importance of adequate diagnosis for the treatment of back pain in children and adolescents, results of this work confirm the deficit in research investment in this area

Characteristics of highly impaired children with severe chronic pain: a 5-year retrospective study on 2249 pediatric pain patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prevalence of pain as a recurrent symptom in children is known to be high, but little is known about children with high impairment from chronic pain seeking specialized treatment. The purpose of this study was the precise description of children with high impairment from chronic pain referred to the German Paediatric Pain Centre over a 5-year period.</p> <p><b>Methods</b></p> <p>Demographic variables, pain characteristics and psychometric measures were assessed at the first evaluation. Subgroup analysis for sex, age and pain location was conducted and multivariate logistic regression applied to identify parameters associated with extremely high impairment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The retrospective study consisted of 2249 children assessed at the first evaluation. Tension type headache (48%), migraine (43%) and functional abdominal pain (11%) were the most common diagnoses with a high rate of co-occurrence; 18% had some form of musculoskeletal pain disease. Irrespective of pain location, chronic pain disorder with somatic and psychological factors was diagnosed frequently (43%). 55% of the children suffered from more than one distinct pain diagnosis. Clinically significant depression and general anxiety scores were expressed by 24% and 19% of the patients, respectively. Girls over the age of 13 were more likely to seek tertiary treatment compared to boys. Nearly half of children suffered from daily or constant pain with a mean pain value of 6/10. Extremely high pain-related impairment, operationalized as a comprehensive measure of pain duration, frequency, intensity, pain-related school absence and disability, was associated with older age, multiple locations of pain, increased depression and prior hospital stays. 43% of the children taking analgesics had no indication for pharmacological treatment.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Children with chronic pain are a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge as they often have two or more different pain diagnoses, are prone to misuse of analgesics and are severely impaired. They are at increased risk for developmental stagnation. Adequate treatment and referral are essential to interrupt progression of the chronic pain process into adulthood.</p