The Concept of the millet in Turkish dictionaries: Its alteration and the impact on Ottoman Macedonia

In the 19th century the dictionaries/glossaries represent the first brace which connected different cultures and languages, thus also linking the Orient with the Occident and vice versa. In this context the research is focused on the Turkish dictionaries/glossaries, which for a long time actually represented one of the basic media of transmitting the new Western ideas in the East, and in our case, in the Ottoman Empire. Through the short comparative analyses of these dictionaries/glossaries and their authors (from the 19th century and early 20th century) we follow the change of the cognitive concept of the term millet with the term nation. The case study is focused on Ottoman Macedonia and on the political implications caused by this change of the meaning of the Ottoman term millet.Znaczenie pojęcia millet w słownikach tureckich: jego zmiana i wpływ na  osmańską Macedonię W XIX wieku słowniki/glosariusze stanowiły pierwszą klamrę, która łączyła różne kultury i języki, łącząc w ten sposób także Orient z Zachodem i vice versa. W tym kontekście badania koncentrują się na tureckich słownikach / glosariuszach, które przez długi czas faktycznie stanowiły jeden z podstawowych środków przekazu nowych zachodnich idei na Wschodzie, a w naszym przypadku w Imperium Osmańskim. Poprzez krótkie analizy porównawcze tych słowników/glosariuszy i ich autorów (z XIX i początku XX wieku) śledzimy przemiany koncepcji znaczeniowej pojęcia millet w kierunku pojęcia naród. Studium przypadku koncentruje się na osmańskiej Macedonii i politycznych implikacjach spowodowanych tą zmianą znaczenia osmańskiego terminu millet.&nbsp

German-Russian gas relations: a special relationship in troubled waters

In the context of the security crisis in and over Ukraine, natural gas imports from Russia have become a source of debate in Germany and the European Union. Natural gas relations with Russia are often analyzed either through the prism of commercial and market-based transactions or that of foreign policy and geopolitics. In that respect, this Research Paper takes a holistic approach and tries to analyze and define the dynamics of (geo)politics and economic/commercial logics from the beginning of the early 1970s until today. The paper provides insights into the conducting of German-Russian gas relations at the levels of infrastructure development, trade, business-to-business and commercial ties, as well as political framing. It explains the nature and texture of the gas relations, which have been subject to change over time. (Autorenreferat

Long-term development of the global energy sector under the influence of energy policies and technological progress

The world energy sector is entering a period of transformation, defined by the emergence of a whole range of cost-effective technologies and the formation of new state priorities that can radically change the structure of energy use. The calculations of the development of world energy markets for the period up to 2040 were made using economic and mathematical optimization modeling based on the ERI RAS SCANER model complex, for two scenarios: Conservative (maintaining key benchmarks and regulatory measures within the framework of existing energy policies, as well as incremental development of technologies without major breakthroughs) and Energy Transition (assuming ambitious goals in the field of reducing emissions, as well as accelerated technology development). The results of calculations show that the growth rate of primary energy consumption will slow down significantly. Renewable energy sources (RES) will be able to provide up to 35-50% of electricity production and up to a quarter of the world’s energy consumption by 2040, while the share of fossil fuels will decline. Oil and coal will pass the peak of consumption before 2040. This will not only lead to a radical change in the price environment of energy markets, but also to a transformation of the way they are organized and regulated, as well as to a revision of business models of most energy companies

The Balkan Wars and the contemporary Balkans

A populist slogan, with a crusade like overtones “to liberate our Christian brothers”, served as an unassailable alibi for the expansionist aspirations of the small Balkan states in order to mobilize their population during the First Balkan War. The different interpretations of the phrase “Christian brothers” could already be seen in the Balkan pacts and their hidden annexes. The Second Balkan War quite openly revealed the sole objective of the Balkan states for territorial expansion in those wars. To each his own: Greece longed for the wheat fields of Macedonia and Edirne; Bulgaria longed for the warm seas of Macedonia and Edirne; Serbia longed to be a coastal country at any cost- if they could not reach the Salonika Bay, then through the Durres port; Montenegro longed for the Skhodër (Skadar/Shkodra) port, etc. The Second Balkan War proved to be the quintessence of different interpretation of the word “to liberate”. Even though the Balkan Wars lasted for almost a year (between 1912 and 1913), they left the Balkan people with severe consequences. Namely, since the Balkan territory was ethnically diverse, especially in a period when not all of the nations were yet completely defined, it was not possible to draw the state lines which could please everybody and which would not dissatisfy the population later. Thus, the same actors would actively participate in both World Wars. Because of this, the discontentment originating in the period of the Balkan Wars still burdens the relations between the Balkan countries to this day. The unresolved political questions, such as the problem of Macedonia and Kosovo, may have lasted the whole century. This, however, does not mean that history repeats itself, because history can never be the same. Frozen conflicts and unresolved issues still burden the Balkans and contribute to the very slow and hard development of its political culture.A populist slogan, with a crusade like overtones: “to liberate our Christian brothers”, served as an unassailable alibi for the expansionist aspirations of the small Balkan states in order to mobilize their population during the First Balkan War. The different interpretations of the phrase “Christian brothers” could already be seen in the Balkan pacts and their hidden annexes. The Second Balkan War quite openly revealed the sole objective of the Balkan states for territorial expansion in those wars. To each his own: Greece longed for the wheat fields of Macedonia and Edirne; Bulgaria longed for the warm seas of Macedonia and Edirne; Serbia longed to be a coastal country at any cost- if they could not reach the Salonika Bay, then through the Durres port; Montenegro longed for the Skhodër (Skadar/Shkodra) port, etc. The Second Balkan War proved to be the quintessence of different interpretation of the word “to liberate”. Even though the Balkan Wars lasted for almost a year (between 1912 and 1913), they left the Balkan people with severe consequences. Namely, since the Balkan territory was ethnically diverse, especially in a period when not all of the nations were yet completely defined, it was not possible to draw the state lines which could please everybody and which would not dissatisfy the population later. Thus, the same actors would actively participate in both World Wars. Because of this, the discontentment originating in the period of the Balkan Wars still burdens the relations between the Balkan countries to this day. The unresolved political questions, such as the problem of Macedonia and Kosovo, may have lasted the whole century. This, however, does not mean that history repeats itself, because history can never be the same. Frozen conflicts and unresolved issues still burden the Balkans and contribute to the very slow and hard development of its political culture.A populist slogan, with a crusade like overtones: “to liberate our Christian brothers”, served as an unassailable alibi for the expansionist aspirations of the small Balkan states in order to mobilize their population during the First Balkan War. The different interpretations of the phrase “Christian brothers” could already be seen in the Balkan pacts and their hidden annexes. The Second Balkan War quite openly revealed the sole objective of the Balkan states for territorial expansion in those wars. To each his own: Greece longed for the wheat fields of Macedonia and Edirne; Bulgaria longed for the warm seas of Macedonia and Edirne; Serbia longed to be a coastal country at any cost- if they could not reach the Salonika Bay, then through the Durres port; Montenegro longed for the Skhodër (Skadar/Shkodra) port, etc. The Second Balkan War proved to be the quintessence of different interpretation of the word “to liberate”. Even though the Balkan Wars lasted for almost a year (between 1912 and 1913), they left the Balkan people with severe consequences. Namely, since the Balkan territory was ethnically diverse, especially in a period when not all of the nations were yet completely defined, it was not possible to draw the state lines which could please everybody and which would not dissatisfy the population later. Thus, the same actors would actively participate in both World Wars. Because of this, the discontentment originating in the period of the Balkan Wars still burdens the relations between the Balkan countries to this day. The unresolved political questions, such as the problem of Macedonia and Kosovo, may have lasted the whole century. This, however, does not mean that history repeats itself, because history can never be the same. Frozen conflicts and unresolved issues still burden the Balkans and contribute to the very slow and hard development of its political culture

Developing a questionnaire evaluating knowledge, attitudes and behaviors on audit & feedback among general practitioners. A mixed methods study

Background: Audit and Feedback (A&F) is one of the most common strategies used to improve quality in healthcare. However, there is still lack of awareness regarding the enabling factors and barriers that could influence its effectiveness. The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire to measure the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of general practitioners (GPs) regarding A&F. The study was performed in the context of the EASY-NET program (project code NET-2016-02364191). Methods: The survey was developed according to two steps. Firstly, a scoping review was performed in order to map the literature on the existing similar instruments with the aim of identifying the sub-domains and possible items to include in a preliminary version of the questionnaire. In the second phase, the questionnaire was reviewed by a multidisciplinary group of experts and administrated to a convenience sample in a pilot survey. Results: Ten papers were included in the scoping review. The survey target and development methodology were heterogenous among the studies. The knowledge, attitudes and behaviors domains were assessed in six, nine and seven studies, respectively. In the first step, 126 pertinent items were extracted and categorized as follows: 8 investigated knowledge, 93 investigated attitudes, and 25 investigated behaviors. Then, 2 sub-domains were identified for knowledge, 14 for attitudes and 7 for behavior. Based on these results, a first version of the survey was developed via consensus among two authors and then revised by the multidisciplinary group of experts in the field of A&F. The final version of the survey included 36 items: 8 in the knowledge domain, 19 in the attitudes domain and 9 in the behaviors domain. The results of the pilot study among 15 GPs suggested a good acceptability and item relevance and accuracy, with positive answers totaling 100% and 93.3% in the proposed questions. Conclusions: The methodology used has shown to be a good strategy for the development of the survey. The survey will be administrated before and after the implementation of an A&F intervention to assess both baseline characteristics and changes after the intervention

Comparative effects of pharmacological interventions for the acute and long-term management of insomnia disorder in adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Behavioural, cognitive, and pharmacological interventions can all be effective for insomnia. However, because of inadequate resources, medications are more frequently used worldwide. We aimed to estimate the comparative effectiveness of pharmacological treatments for the acute and long-term treatment of adults with insomnia disorder. METHODS In this systematic review and network meta-analysis, we searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, ClinicalTrials.gov, and websites of regulatory agencies from database inception to Nov 25, 2021, to identify published and unpublished randomised controlled trials. We included studies comparing pharmacological treatments or placebo as monotherapy for the treatment of adults (≥18 year) with insomnia disorder. We assessed the certainty of evidence using the confidence in network meta-analysis (CINeMA) framework. Primary outcomes were efficacy (ie, quality of sleep measured by any self-rated scale), treatment discontinuation for any reason and due to side-effects specifically, and safety (ie, number of patients with at least one adverse event) both for acute and long-term treatment. We estimated summary standardised mean differences (SMDs) and odds ratios (ORs) using pairwise and network meta-analysis with random effects. This study is registered with Open Science Framework, https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PU4QJ. FINDINGS We included 170 trials (36 interventions and 47 950 participants) in the systematic review and 154 double-blind, randomised controlled trials (30 interventions and 44 089 participants) were eligible for the network meta-analysis. In terms of acute treatment, benzodiazepines, doxylamine, eszopiclone, lemborexant, seltorexant, zolpidem, and zopiclone were more efficacious than placebo (SMD range: 0·36-0·83 [CINeMA estimates of certainty: high to moderate]). Benzodiazepines, eszopiclone, zolpidem, and zopiclone were more efficacious than melatonin, ramelteon, and zaleplon (SMD 0·27-0·71 [moderate to very low]). Intermediate-acting benzodiazepines, long-acting benzodiazepines, and eszopiclone had fewer discontinuations due to any cause than ramelteon (OR 0·72 [95% CI 0·52-0·99; moderate], 0·70 [0·51-0·95; moderate] and 0·71 [0·52-0·98; moderate], respectively). Zopiclone and zolpidem caused more dropouts due to adverse events than did placebo (zopiclone: OR 2·00 [95% CI 1·28-3·13; very low]; zolpidem: 1·79 [1·25-2·50; moderate]); and zopiclone caused more dropouts than did eszopiclone (OR 1·82 [95% CI 1·01-3·33; low]), daridorexant (3·45 [1·41-8·33; low), and suvorexant (3·13 [1·47-6·67; low]). For the number of individuals with side-effects at study endpoint, benzodiazepines, eszopiclone, zolpidem, and zopiclone were worse than placebo, doxepin, seltorexant, and zaleplon (OR range 1·27-2·78 [high to very low]). For long-term treatment, eszopiclone and lemborexant were more effective than placebo (eszopiclone: SMD 0·63 [95% CI 0·36-0·90; very low]; lemborexant: 0·41 [0·04-0·78; very low]) and eszopiclone was more effective than ramelteon (0.63 [0·16-1·10; very low]) and zolpidem (0·60 [0·00-1·20; very low]). Compared with ramelteon, eszopiclone and zolpidem had a lower rate of all-cause discontinuations (eszopiclone: OR 0·43 [95% CI 0·20-0·93; very low]; zolpidem: 0·43 [0·19-0·95; very low]); however, zolpidem was associated with a higher number of dropouts due to side-effects than placebo (OR 2·00 [95% CI 1·11-3·70; very low]). INTERPRETATION Overall, eszopiclone and lemborexant had a favorable profile, but eszopiclone might cause substantial adverse events and safety data on lemborexant were inconclusive. Doxepin, seltorexant, and zaleplon were well tolerated, but data on efficacy and other important outcomes were scarce and do not allow firm conclusions. Many licensed drugs (including benzodiazepines, daridorexant, suvorexant, and trazodone) can be effective in the acute treatment of insomnia but are associated with poor tolerability, or information about long-term effects is not available. Melatonin, ramelteon, and non-licensed drugs did not show overall material benefits. These results should serve evidence-based clinical practice. FUNDING UK National Institute for Health Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre

Peculiarities of nonadditive changes in conductivity of nano-PDLC under influence of magnetite and single-wall carbon nanotubes

Studied in this work has been the effect of nanoparticles – magnetite and single-wall carbon nanotubes – separately and together on the conductivity of nematic liquid crystal 6CHBT dispersed in polyvinyl alcohol. Morphology of these films was analyzed using an electron microscope. When using selected technologyof homogenizing the mixture components, there takes place formation of liquid crystals dispersed in the polymer matrix with the average sizes of liquid-crystal droplets close to 500 nm (nanoPDLC). It has been found that simultaneous introduction of magnetite and nanotubes results in lowering the conductivity of nano-PDLC as compared to the total conductivity of nano-PDLC with each kind of nanoparticles separately. It has been suggested that the main mechanism of this effect lies in formation of deep centers for electron capture by complexes with different types of nanoparticles, which leads to a decrease in electronic conductivity through the polymer matrix