Enver Pasha and the Basmachi Rebellion

This essay explores the reasons why Enver Pasha, one of the exiled Young Turk rulers of the Ottoman Empire, decided to lead a Central Asian resistance movement called the Basmachi Rebellion from 1921 until his death at the hands of the Soviets in August 1922. This essay examines political and social developments in the Ottoman Empire and Russia which were an influence on Enver’s decision to join the Basmachi movement. It argues that although some historians have viewed Enver’s actions in Central Asia as foolish and badly planned, his decisions can be understood within the context of the Pan-Turkic and Pan-Islamic ideology prevalent during this period

Therapeutic utilization of meditation resources by people with multiple sclerosis : Insights from an online patient discussion forum

We aimed to describe website traffic and qualitatively analyze an e-health community discussion forum. Participants in this study were people affected by multiple sclerosis visiting the Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (OMS) website. This mixed methods study combined descriptive analysis of website traffic over 7 years and 1 month, and qualitative analysis of 1 week of posts in the meditation topic, coded into theme groups using qualitative thematic analysis. There were 166 meditation topics posted with 21,530 initial views of primary post and 785 sub-post responses. Meditation posts and sub-posts received 368,713 replies. Number of views increased from 4,684 in 2011 to over 80,000 in 2017, a considerably greater rate of increase than overall traffic. Qualitative analysis of posts on the meditation forum identified themes of barriers and enablers to utilization of meditation resources. Enablement themes dominated, observed across six of the seven theme groups with various forms of positive social and emotional support to learn and practice meditation. One theme, negative emotion, was identified as a barrier. The OMS peer-to-peer patient online discussion forum serves important functions in encouraging, educating and enabling its growing online community. Our analysis may help improve and innovate online support for lifestyle management in many chronic diseases

The nature of trauma memories in acute stress disorder in children and adolescents

Background: There is increasing theoretical, clinical and research evidence for the role of trauma memory in the aetiology of acute pathological stress responses in adults. However, research into the phenomenology of trauma memories in young people is currently scarce. Methods: This study compared the nature of trauma narratives to narratives of unpleasant non-traumatic events in young people (aged 8-17) who sought emergency medical attention following an assault or road traffic accident. Data were collected within 2-4 weeks of the index event. Symptom severity was assessed by child self-report and face-to-face diagnostic interviews. Comparisons of narrative indices were made between those children with acute stress disorder (ASD) and those without ASD. Results: Among participants (n = 50), those with ASD (38%) had significantly elevated levels of disorganisation in their trauma narrative, compared both to trauma-exposed controls and to their unpleasant comparative narrative. This effect was not accounted for by age. Regardless of ASD diagnostic status, trauma narratives had significantly higher sensory content and significantly lower positive emotion content compared to the unpleasant comparative narrative. These effects were not significant when age was included as a covariate. Acute symptom severity was significantly predicted by the level of disorganisation in the trauma narrative and the child's cognitive appraisals of the event. Conclusions: These data provide the first empirical evidence that disorganisation is not only directly linked to symptom severity, but also specific to the trauma memory. In addition, it provides support for the adaptation of adult cognitive models to acute pathological stress reactions in children and adolescents

Informing the development of Australia's national eating disorders research and translation strategy : a rapid review methodology

Background Eating disorders (EDs) are highly complex mental illnesses associated with significant medical complications. There are currently knowledge gaps in research relating to the epidemiology, aetiology, treatment, burden, and outcomes of eating disorders. To clearly identify and begin addressing the major deficits in the scientific, medical, and clinical understanding of these mental illnesses, the Australian Government Department of Health in 2019 funded the InsideOut Institute (IOI) to develop the Australian Eating Disorder Research and Translation Strategy, the primary aim of which was to identify priorities and targets for building research capacity and outputs. A series of rapid reviews (RR) were conducted to map the current state of knowledge, identify evidence gaps, and inform development of the national research strategy. Published peer-reviewed literature on DSM-5 listed EDs, across eight knowledge domains was reviewed: (1) population, prevalence, disease burden, Quality of Life in Western developed countries; (2) risk factors; (3) co-occurring conditions and medical complications; (4) screening and diagnosis; (5) prevention and early intervention; (6) psychotherapies and relapse prevention; (7) models of care; (8) pharmacotherapies, alternative and adjunctive therapies; and (9) outcomes (including mortality). While RRs are systematic in nature, they are distinct from systematic reviews in their aim to gather evidence in a timely manner to support decision-making on urgent or high-priority health concerns at the national level. Results Three medical science databases were searched as the primary source of literature for the RRs: Science Direct, PubMed and OVID (Medline). The search was completed on 31st May 2021 (spanning January 2009-May 2021). At writing, a total of 1,320 articles met eligibility criteria and were included in the final review. Conclusions For each RR, the evidence has been organised to review the knowledge area and identify gaps for further research and investment. The series of RRs (published separately within the current series) are designed to support the development of research and translation practice in the field of EDs. They highlight areas for investment and investigation, and provide researchers, service planners and providers, and research funders rapid access to quality current evidence, which has been synthesised and organised to assist decision-making

A review of web-based support systems for students in higher education

Abstract Background Recent evidence suggests that there is an increasing need for accessible and anonymous services to support higher education (HE) students suffering from psychological and/or academic difficulties. Such difficulties can lead to several negative outcomes, including poor academic performance, sub-optimal mental health, reduced study satisfaction, and dropout from study. Currently, universities in the UK lack financial resources and the on-campus mental health services traditionally offered to students are increasingly economically unsustainable. Compounded by the perceived stigma of using such services, mental health providers have been driven to address the escalating needs of students through online services. Methods In this paper, we review online support systems identified through a literature search and a manual search of references in the identified papers. Further systems were identified through web searches, and systems still in development were identified by consultation with researchers in the field. We accessed systems online to extract relevant information, regarding the main difficulties addressed by the systems, the psychological techniques used and any relevant research evidence to support their effectiveness. Conclusion A large number of web-based support systems have been developed to support mental health and wellbeing, although few specifically target HE students. Further research is necessary to establish the effectiveness of such interventions in providing a cost-effective alternative to face-to-face therapy, particularly in certain settings such as HE institutions

Efficacy and cost-effectiveness of two online interventions for children and adolescents at risk for depression (E.motion trial): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial within the ProHEAD consortium

Background: Depression is a serious mental health problem and is common in children and adolescents. Online interventions are promising in overcoming the widespread undertreatment of depression and in improving the help-seeking behavior in children and adolescents. Methods: The multicentre, randomized controlled E.motion trial is part of the German ProHEAD consortium (Promoting Help-seeking using E-technology for ADolescents). The objective of the trial is to investigate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of two online interventions to reduce depressive symptomatology in high-risk children and adolescents with subsyndromal symptoms of depression in comparison to an active control group. Participants will be randomized to one of three conditions: (1) Intervention 1, a clinician-guided self-management program (iFightDepression®); (2) Intervention 2, a clinician-guided group chat intervention; and (3) Control intervention, a psycho-educational website on depressive symptoms. Interventions last six weeks. In total, N = 363 children and adolescents aged ≥ 12 years with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 modified for Adolescents (PHQ-A) scores in the range of 5–9 will be recruited at five study sites across Germany. Online questionnaires will be administered before onset of the intervention, at the end of the intervention, and at the six-month follow-up. Further, children and adolescents will participate in the baseline screening and the one- and two-year school-based follow-up assessments integrated in the ProHEAD consortium. The primary endpoint is depression symptomatology at the end of intervention as measured by the PHQ-A score. Secondary outcomes include depression symptomatology at all follow-ups, help-seeking attitudes, and actual face-to-face help-seeking, adherence to and satisfaction with the interventions, depression stigma, and utilization and cost of interventions. Discussion: This study represents the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigating efficacy and cost-effectiveness of two online interventions in children and adolescents aged ≥ 12 years at risk for depression. It aims to provide a better understanding of the help-seeking behavior of children and adolescents, potential benefits of E-mental health interventions for this age group, and new insights into so far understudied aspects of E-mental health programs, such as potential negative effects of online interventions. This knowledge will be used to tailor and improve future help offers and programs for children and adolescents and ways of treatment allocation. Trial registration: German Register for Clinical Trials (DRKS), DRKS00014668. Registered on 4 May 2018. International trial registration took place through the “international clinical trials registry platform” with the secondary ID S-086/2018

The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis Facilitates Evolutionary Models of Culture Change

The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) is beginning to fulfill the whole promise of Darwinian insight through its extension of evolutionary understanding from the biological domain to include cultural information evolution. Several decades of important foundation-laying work took a social Darwinist approach and exhibited ecologically-deterministic elements. This is not the case for more recent developments to the evolutionary study of culture, which emphasize non-Darwinian processes such as self-organization, potentiality, and epigenetic change

Architecture, Fire, and Storage: Cathlapotle and Meier Features

This report is one in a series on the archaeology of the Wapato Valley region of the Lower Columbia River. Most of the reports discuss aspects of the excavations and archaeology of two sites, the Meier site (35CO5) and Cathlapotle site (45CL1). Other related topics are also treated. Attached supplemental files: feature catalogs for Meier and Cathlapotle sites See Also: Preliminary Report and Catalogs: Archaeological Investigations at 45CL1 Cathlapotle (1991-1996) , Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Clark County, Washington (1999) Much as lithic tools or faunal remains, features have the potential to be independent lines of evidence in archaeological hypothesis testing. Using household archaeological theory as a foundation, this report uses hearth and related features from the Cathlapotle (45CL1) and Meier (35CO5) sites to test hypotheses dealing with spatial and temporal variation in production. Spatially, differences should be seen within sites and between sites, with Cathlapotle, with a larger population to support, generally showing greater investment in production. Temporally, the sites were occupied at the start of the fur trade era in the Pacific Northwest. If the people living at these sites were active participants in the fur trade, there should be an intensification of production to meet demand created by that trade. These changes should be reflected in the hearths. One hundred and seventy-nine hearths, hearth dumps, and ovens were identified at the sites. 8,909 faunal elements from 23 taxa were recovered from excavation units associated with these features. A combination of multivariate exploratory data analysis and traditional significance-based testing are used to analyze feature and faunal data. Analyses based on feature size show two distinct patterns. First, features in the northern and central sections of the Meier house tend to cluster together. Similarly, features in the southern section of the Meier house and exterior features cluster. This pattern fits production based on the relative status of the occupants of the house sections. Second, features in the postcontact period tend to be smaller than those located in precontact contexts. This was found at both sites. Faunal analyses tended to reinforce these findings. Analyses of Meier based on faunal remains tended to create northern/central and southern/exterior clusters. Both sites had relatively less variation in faunal remains in the precontact, with increased variation in the postcontact. This variation was often driven by an increase in faunal elements in the postcontact. For example, the faunal assemblages are dominated by deer and elk, which have increased numbers of elements present and increased accumulation rates in the postcontact compared to the precontact. However, the ratio of one to the other remained constant across temporal components. This same pattern holds generally for most mammalian fauna. Faunal and feature analysis point to a core of production in the precontact, probably driven by household demand. From this core increased variation in the postcontact suggests intensification of production as people at these sites took part in the fur trade