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Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) remains a major global public health problem. SAM cases are treated using ready‐to‐use therapeutic food (RUTF) at a dosage of ∼200 kcal/kg/day per the standard treatment protocol (STD). Emerging evidence on simplifications to the standard protocol, which among other adaptations, includes reducing the daily RUTF dosage, indicates that it is effective and safe for treating children with SAM. In response to a foreseen stock shortage of RUTF, the government of Afghanistan endorsed the temporary use of a modified treatment protocol in which the daily RUTF dosage was prescribed at 1000 kcal/day (irrespective of body weight) until the child achieved moderate acute malnutrition status (weight‐for‐height z‐score ≥ −3 or mid‐upper arm circumference [MUAC] ≥ 115 mm), at which point 500 kcal/day was prescribed until cured (modified treatment protocol [MTP]). In this paper, we report the results of this nonweight‐based daily RUTF dosage experience. Data of 2042 children with SAM, treated using either the STD protocol (n = 269) or the MTP protocol (n = 1773) from August 2019 to March 2021 in five provinces, were analyzed. The per‐protocol analyses confirmed noninferiority of MTP protocol when compared to STD protocol for recovery rate [93.3% vs. 90.2%; ∆ (95% confidence interval, CI) = 3.1 (−0.9; 7.2) %] and length‐of‐stay [82.6 vs. 75.6 days; ∆ (95% CI) = 6.9 (3.3; 10.5) days], considering the margin of noninferiority of −10% and +14 days, respectively. Weight gain velocity was smaller in the MTP protocol group than in the STD protocol group [3.7 (1.7) vs. 5.2 (2.9) g/kg/day; ∆ (95% CI) = −1.5 (−1.8, −1.2); p < 0.001]. The STD group had a significantly higher mean than the MTP group for absolute MUAC gain [∆ (95% CI) = 1.7 (1.0; 2.3) mm; p < 0.001] and the MUAC velocity [∆ (95% CI) = 0.29 (0.20; 0.37) mm/week; p < 0.001]. Our results confirm the noninferiority of a nonweight‐based daily dosage and support the endorsement of this modification as an alternative to the standard protocol in resource‐constrained contexts. Key messages: More evidence supporting the use of the nonweight‐based daily ready‐to‐use therapeutic food (RUTF) dosage for treating uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM), in specific contexts, is needed.Our real‐world prospective nonrandomized study showed that the fixed nonweight‐based daily RUTF dosage protocol is as effective as the standard weight‐based protocol for treating uncomplicated SAM in children <5 in the Afghanistan context.Our findings support the reflection of a nonweight‐based daily RUTF dosage in resource‐constrained contexts in national and global policies and guidelines to improve coverage of all children in need of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Afghanistan is grappling with a severe health crisis marked by a high prevalence of infectious diseases, particularly tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, and the added strain of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The nation's healthcare system, already fragile, faces formidable challenges. Socioeconomic constraints, including limited resources and financial barriers, hinder healthcare accessibility, leading to delayed or inadequate care. Environmental factors, such as poor sanitation and crowded living conditions, exacerbate the transmission of diseases, especially waterborne illnesses. Governance issues, encompassing transparency, corruption, and political instability, disrupt healthcare efficiency and resource allocation. Addressing these multifaceted issues is vital to enhance Afghanistan's healthcare system and overall well‐being. The withdrawal of international support has exacerbated these challenges. The primary research goal is to deeply understand Afghanistan's health system, focusing on the major disease burdens: Tuberculosis, Malaria, AIDS, COVID‐19, Measles, Hepatitis, and Cholera. The study aims to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of current approaches, presenting a comprehensive view of challenges and opportunities within the Afghan healthcare system. The research concludes by highlighting policy implications, practical implementation, and offering recommendations for future endeavors. Methodology: This paper provides a thorough analysis of the literature concerning infectious diseases in Afghanistan and the enhancement of the healthcare system in the nation. A systematic exploration of the literature was conducted through PubMed and Google Scholar databases. The search terms used encompassed "Tuberculosis" OR "TB," "Malaria," "acquired immunodeficiency syndrome" OR "AIDS," "Human immunodeficiency virus" OR "HIV," "COVID‐19," "Measles," "Hepatitis virus," "Cholera," "Health system improvement," and "Afghanistan." Additionally, external sources like UNICEF, CDC, and WHO were referenced. Results: In conclusion, while improving access to vital medicines and vaccines is crucial for enhancing health outcomes in Afghanistan, significant challenges must be addressed to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of such strategies. The Afghan health system's fragile governance, corruption, logistical complexities, and failure to address broader social and economic factors pose significant risks and obstacles to the implementation of proposed health strategies. Therefore, the strategies discussed in this analysis align with key Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 3, and their successful implementation will have implications not only for the health and well‐being of Afghanistan but also for global health. Conclusion: Hence, by adopting a comprehensive approach with complementary interventions as discussed, we can address issues in the Afghan health system and reduce transmissible diseases' burden, thereby building a better world for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Bank has prioritised and implemented the Citizen Charter National Priority Program (CCNPP) – a community‐driven development program aiming to broadly engage local communities in planning and implementation of the community‐driven development projects in Afghanistan. This paper has utilised Arnstein's model of citizen's participation – the eight stages of citizen participation ladder – to assess the major barriers affecting citizen engagement in community‐driven development projects in Afghanistan. Employing a qualitative approach, we have conducted semi‐structured interviews and focus group discussions with local communities, elders of the community development councils, community development experts and practitioners. The paper has found out that poverty, deinstitutionalised Community Development Councils (CDCs), low level of literacy, lack of volunteering culture, male‐dominance in decision‐making processes, defects in CCNPP operational processes including limited time frame, predefined services, power‐seeking facilitating partners, area selection, and weak CDCs are among the major barriers affecting citizen participation in community‐driven projects in Afghanistan. This paper concluded that citizen's participation in community‐driven development projects in Afghanistan is placed at informing and consultation stages and, in some projects, could be placed at the placation stage of Arnstein's model of citizen participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pashto is a major language of the Iranian family with multiple dialects spoken in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this paper, I examine the phonological inventory of the previously little known Khatak Pashto by a comparison with the well‐known Yusufzai, of the Northeast dialect of the language. I use primary data collected from Karak and Mardan districts of northwest Pakistan. In my analysis, I identify the similarities between these two varieties and the differences, based on at least eleven phonological isoglosses including the feature of vowel nasality, which split the two. I conclude by supporting the case for a distinct Central dialect area to represent the position of Khatak Pashto. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty was already a main problem in Afghanistan even before, but it has exacerbated due to the pandemic. However, the actual impact of the pandemic on households had not been investigated. This study provides such analysis using data obtained from a strictly random survey of 1060 households in the capital of Balkh, the fourth most populated province in Afghanistan. Using headcount ratio and poverty gap measures and both income and expenditure approaches, the results show that an additional 12% of households fell below the poverty line, from an already high of 75% before the pandemic. The poverty gap index rises to 34%, but the computed Gini coefficient indicates no significant change in inequality. Poor governance and corruption in Afghanistan are major impediments to address the issue of poverty. This paper suggests several measures which can be implemented to have effective policies and governance to alleviate poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: The use and manufacture of methamphetamine has increased in Afghanistan in recent years. Recent research and reports have pointed to the ephedra plant, which grows wildly, as a key source of ephedrine used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. This paper aimed to estimate the relative efficiencies and scale of inputs required to manufacture methamphetamine in Afghanistan. Methods: Monte Carlo simulations model of the amount of ephedra or cold medications needed to render a pure kilogram of methamphetamine in Afghanistan, accounting for uncertainty in ranges of key parameters informed from the literature and elsewhere. Final estimates were extrapolated to recent seizure totals. Results: For dried ephedra, the median estimate is 196.8 kg (25th–75th percentiles 119.3–346.6 kg) needed to produce 1 kg of methamphetamine compared with 27.9 kg (25th–75th percentiles 21.9–36.8 kg) for cold medications. Nearly 2.7 t of methamphetamine were seized in Afghanistan in 2021. Assuming a purity range of 50%–90%, some 266–478 t of dried ephedra or 38–68 t of cold medication would need to have been processed. Conclusion: Simulated estimates show that considerable amounts of either ephedra or cold medication are needed to produce 1 kg of methamphetamine in Afghanistan. This raises questions about the plausibility of ephedra as the dominant source of Afghanistan's methamphetamine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Disasters is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Iran has been among the top ten largest refugee‐host countries worldwide, sheltering one of the largest groups of forced migrants from Afghanistan during the past four decades. This policy paper briefly examines and summarizes the policies related to education of Afghan children in Iran through a structured review. The results of this review suggest that higher education has been and continues to be heavily restricted for Afghans. While access to primary education has improved for Afghans in Iran, policies continue to neglect both cultural specificity and unique needs of this group. Therefore, enrolment has remained restricted. The findings of our policy analysis call for further attention to culturally relevant education, financial assistance for families living in poverty and interventions to subsidize the cost of education to ensure access of all Afghan children to primary education and retain enrolment. Results also call for reconsiderations in restrictive higher education policies for Afghans in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the paper by B. Pardo and colleagues about the production of methamphetamine in Afghanistan. Topics discussed include the role of ephedra in the expansion of methamphetamine production in the country, the uncertainty of the Taliban's ban on drug production, and the possible increase in the manufacture of methamphetamine or other synthetic substances using synthetic precursors.

This paper presents the results of the mineralogical, petrographic and chemical study of different archaeological samples related to terracruda sculptures and other elements that were part of the architectural decoration of the Buddhist sites of Tepe Narenj and Qol‐e‐tut (Kabul, Afghanistan; fifth to 11th centuries CE). The main objective of the study was to characterize the samples using an archaeometric approach. The study helped to better understand the materials involved in the modeling of Afghan sculptures and their processing, such as the different nature of the clay layers and the finishing 'stucco' coating. The results further indicate that similarities exist among the manufacturing process of the studied samples and that used today by an ancient caste of clay artists in West Bengal (India), suggesting the existence of a continuous technological tradition that deserves to be further explored in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of an experiment conducted before the 2021 regime change in Afghanistan that examined how different types of information strategies affected private sector support for a hypothetical peace agreement with the Taliban. We compared the impact of historical, pecuniary, and religious information on the stated preferences of Afghan business elites and employees in Kabul. The results show that historical information had less of an effect than pecuniary information on respondents' probability of accepting a peace agreement with the Taliban but a slightly larger effect than religious information. Although the context of the study has dramatically changed, the findings can inform practitioners and policymakers in mediating future peace negotiations in Afghanistan and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes and uses the National Solidarity Program (NSP) Afghanistan as a case study to question the idea of social capital building for poverty reduction. Specifically, it explores how development policy has been decoupled from its intended objectives as it hit the existing friction in the ground. The data draws from poor household experience in three different provinces of Afghanistan to assess how poor household is integrated into NSP and how existing social structure and relational dynamics shape the NSP outcomes. The finding reveals that household is experiencing a cluster of interlink disadvantages that make it impossible for them to draw on social capital to reduce their poverty. However, NSP failed to eliminate the asymmetrical relations which created poverty in rural society; instead, it boosted Neopatrimonialism culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite sustained scholarly interest in post‐conflict states, there has not been a thorough review and analysis of associated methodology and the challenges of conducting research in these contexts. Addressing this gap, this paper directs attention to the particular effects of these settings on access and data quality and their ramifications for the resulting scholarship. It assesses the intrinsic challenges of performing fieldwork in these environments, drawing on both relevant social science literature and the authors' experiences of carrying out research in Afghanistan and Timor‐Leste. The study demonstrates that the post‐conflict environment moulds research design and, consequently, influences how questions are answered as well as the questions asked. Moreover, it highlights ways to mitigate these issues. This work is of relevance to scholars planning to engage in field research and to researchers reflecting upon their work, as well as to policymakers who are considering undertaking programmes or commissioning research in post‐conflict areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the prediction of mobile traffic load based on four variants of recurrent neural networks, which are the simple long short‐term memory (LSTM), stacked LSTM, gated recurrent unit (GRU) and bidirectional LSTM. In the considered schemes, the mobile traffic load of 15 min ahead of time is estimated based on the previous mobile traffic load data. The performance of the proposed scheme is verified using realistic traffic load data collected from the base station located in Kabul city, Afghanistan, which belongs to the SALAAM telecommunication operator during December 2020 and January 2021. Through performance evaluation, the authors confirm that the traffic load can be predicted with high accuracy using considered schemes and the GRU‐based scheme outperforms other schemes in terms of accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we assess the long‐term effect of floods on food security (as measured by calorie and micronutrient consumption) by applying an instrumental variable approach to data from the Afghanistan National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment survey. To identify the determinants of this effect, we also estimate how floods affect per capita yearly household income and poverty status. We find that exposure to flooding during a 12‐month period decreased daily calorie consumption by approximately 60 kcal while increasing the probability of iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C deficiency by 11, 12, and 27 percentage points, respectively. Controlling for price shocks and income only marginally reduces this flood effect on food security, suggesting that impaired livelihoods (rather than price hikes) are its primary driver. We further determine that exposure to this natural disaster decreases income by about 3% and makes flood‐affected households about 3 percentage points more likely to be poor. Lastly, we show that experience of floods is strongly and significantly associated with lower diet quality and quantity, and with engaging in consumption smoothing coping strategies, such as buying food on credit and taking loans. These findings underscore the serious direct impact of floods on both diet and effective behavioral responses to such shocks while emphasizing the need for targeted micronutrient supplementation in disaster relief and food aid measures even after the period of natural disaster emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, building‐level disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures are aimed at a single natural hazard. However, in many countries the society faces the threat of multiple hazards. Building‐level DRR measures that aim to decrease earthquake vulnerability can have opposing or conflicting effects on flood vulnerability, and vice versa. In a case study of Afghanistan, we calculate the risk of floods and earthquakes, in terms of average annual losses (AAL), in the current situation. Next, we develop two DRR scenarios, where building‐level measures to reduce flood and earthquake risk are implemented. We use this to identify districts for which DRR measures of one hazard increase the risk of another hazard. We then also calculate the optimal situation between the two scenarios by, for each district, selecting the DRR scenario for which the AAL as a ratio of the total exposure is lowest. Finally, we assess the sensitivity of the total risk to each scenario. The optimal measure differs spatially throughout Afghanistan, but in most districts it is more beneficial to take flood DRR measures. However, in the districts where it is more beneficial to take earthquake measures, the reduction in risk is considerable (up to 40%, while flood DRR measures lead to a reduction in risk by 16% in individual districts). The introduction of asynergies between DRR measures in risk analyses allows policy‐makers to spatially differentiate building codes and other building‐level DRR measures to address the most prevalent risk while not compromising the risk resulting from other hazards. Plain Language Summary: Our study aims to improve our understanding of potentially unwanted effects of measures that reduce the impacts of disasters across different hazards. Traditionally, those measures are aimed at decreasing the risk a building faces of a single hazard type despite their potential of having unwanted effects on other hazard types. For example, building on stilts is an often‐used measure to decrease a building's flood vulnerability, however, it simultaneously increases a building's earthquake vulnerability. In this paper, we refer to these as asynergies. However, in many countries the built environment faces the threat of different hazard types. We define such potentially unwanted effects between measure as "asynergies." A case study of Afghanistan is presented in which the asynergies of flood and earthquake building‐level measures are assessed. An improved understanding of these asynergies can help policy makers enforce measures that decrease the overall risk. Key Points: An improved understanding of asynergies between disaster risk reduction (DRR)measures is crucial for long‐term sustainable developmentWe define asynergies as the potential adverse effects of measures aimed to decrease the risk of one hazard on the risk of another hazardAsynergies of flood and earthquake DRR measures are assessed in a case study of Afghanistan [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The laborer's physical and mental health, well‐being, and happiness are among the major indicators for measuring each nation's sustainable development. A conflictive and hostile external environment (war zone) poses considerable difficulty and psychological distress to workers and nonworkers. Therefore, working in such a physically dangerous business environment may hurt worker's well‐being and happiness that in turn may reduce the workers' productivity at the workplace. A high level of laborers' productivity in public and private sectors is essential for achieving sustainable development in the long term. Therefore, this paper examines the effects of perceived danger on employees' psychological well‐being in war‐torn Afghanistan, an issue being addressed for the first time. We tested the moderating role of social support from coworkers on this effect in order to have a broader vision of which individuals are healthier and happier in a physically dangerous working environment. Two survey data sets were collected from 190 employees working in various small private and public businesses in Herat, Afghanistan. Our results reveal the negative impact of perceived danger on employees' psychological well‐being and that employees who receive little or no social support from their peers feel the negative effects of a physically dangerous working condition even more acutely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As in the Vietnam era, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not the focus of the nightly news. Nevertheless, there are countless numbers of individuals enlisting, serving, deploying, redeploying, and leaving military branches every day. These individuals are underserved in many ways, especially after they end their formal relationship with their service. The purpose of this introduction is to describe the ongoing concerns and psychological problems of our military personnel and the efforts, described by the authors of papers in this issue, to address these concerns and problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including approaches to bioethics; factors related to one's career stage and standing as an academic; and raising awareness about bioethics.

Introduction: This study, of significant importance to healthcare professionals, policymakers, researchers, and organizations involved in child healthcare and malnutrition in Afghanistan, aimed to estimate the out‐of‐pocket expenditure (OOPE) in patients under 5 years old with severe malnutrition in a children's hospital in Herat Province, Afghanistan. Method: This study employed a meticulously designed cross‐sectional descriptive‐analytical approach with practical results. The research population consisted of families with malnourished children under 5 who were referred to Herat Children's Hospital. Data was collected using a comprehensive standard World Health Organization questionnaire to gather demographic information from children in Herat. A carefully selected convenience sampling method was used, with 300 referring patients participating in face‐to‐face interviews with the supervisors of these children. After obtaining personal consent and coordinating with health officials, interviews were conducted with the caregivers of children under 5 who suffered from severe malnutrition. The data was then analyzed using robust descriptive statistics, quantitative variables, mean and standard deviation, frequency, and relative frequency. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the factors that most influenced direct payments from patients' pockets, ensuring the reliability and validity of the findings. Results: The results showed that OOPE in both households with seven and less than seven people and more than seven people was 68%. The findings indicated that among the residents of Herat referred to the studied hospital, these people spent 54% of the treatment costs directly out of pocket. In contrast, people in the rural areas of Herat pay 69% of the treatment costs to receive medical services straight out of pocket. The critical point is that 93% of the families have incurred catastrophic expenses to treat their children suffering from severe malnutrition. The research revealed that the patient's location and the education level of the head of the household were the most significant factors affecting out‐of‐pocket payments by patients. Conclusion: Increasing OOPE in rural Afghanistan poses a significant obstacle to equitable healthcare services and access to appropriate medicines. To support the goal of universal healthcare coverage, geographic imbalances, and broad health financing options must be addressed. Strengthening insurance coverage and more government assistance can significantly reduce these patients' out‐of‐pocket payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inherited bleeding disorders in Afghanistan: The current situation amid COVID-19 However, these packages did not include rare diseases such as haemophilia.8 This paper aims to elucidate the challenges haemophilia patients face in Afghanistan. Keywords: Afghanistan; challenges; COVID-19; Haemophilia; inherited bleeding disorders EN Afghanistan challenges COVID-19 Haemophilia inherited bleeding disorders e579 e580 2 07/21/21 20210701 NES 210701 INTRODUCTION Inherited bleeding disorders consist of a heterogeneous sort of diseases that reflect abnormalities of blood vessels, coagulation proteins and platelets.1 Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common type of these bleeding disorders, followed by haemophilia A and haemophilia B, which are both x-linked recessive disorders, mainly affecting men.2 Haemophilia occurs in all ethnic groups throughout the world. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Journal of Analytical Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the roles the English language is expected to play in contemporary war‐torn Afghanistan. It identifies 12 roles – some functional, others aspirational. English has a role to play in the development of Afghanistan, albeit limited, and it is believed to provide a means of escape, both literally and metaphorically. On the other hand, in some sections of society, English is seen negatively. In other contexts, English is required to play a neutral role between the two national languages. Analysis of the way that English is used in aspirational contexts suggests a parallel with shamanistic language: it does not need to be understood but, for its audience, the intended beneficiaries, that does not make it any less effective as a symbolic language, at least in the short term. In the longer term, however, as promised benefits fail to appear, English may increasingly be perceived negatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the twentieth century, the socialist bloc became a second home for socialists from Iran and Afghanistan. Iranian socialists almost certainly constituted the largest foreign diaspora in the USSR at the time of its dissolution, and Soviet entanglements in Afghanistan led to a large flow of Afghan soldiers, students, and socialists to the Soviet Union in the latter half of the twentieth century. The USSR also sponsored Persian socialist internationalism domestically in the form of the Tajik SSR. This paper uses sources from all three sides of the "Persianate triangle" (Tajikistan, Iran, and Afghanistan) to highlight how encounters between socialist groups often highlighted differences between these groups' understanding of socialism despite a shared Persian language. More broadly, it points to the importance of "subnational actors" in the making of Soviet foreign policy. Case studies of a Tajik translator in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan as well as Iranian socialist exiles in Kabul also show how the memory of socialist internationalism has been processed and narrated very differently within the Iranian diaspora and Tajikistan today. In conclusion, the article shows how the networks forged by Soviet internationalism have often been reworked in the wake of the collapse of the USSR and offers reflections on how scholars can engage further in the study of "subnational internationalism." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper by Noor et al. in this issue provides important and interesting data on the incidence and outcomes of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia in Afghanistan. The age of patients is much lower than we are used to seeing in the West, reflecting in part the particular demographics of the country; these data provide an important first step to identifying areas for improvement. Commentary on: Noor et al. Demographic and clinical characteristics of acute myeloid leukaemia diagnosed and treated at tertiary level in Afghanistan. Br J Haematol 2023;203:404–410. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polish bilateral development aid program for Afghanistan is perceived as an integral part of international efforts to rebuild the war-torn country. It was focused on Ghazni province in South Eastern part of Afghanistan, where a Polish part of a local Provincial Reconstruction Team was established in 2008. This paper analyses the outputs and challenges of the Polish Development Program for Ghazni province. Based on a field research, it shows that Polish development aid program for Ghazni was not well thought out in the then and current development and security situation. Research results indicated that Polish development aid in Ghazni had some major weaknesses, and in fact, it was contributing mainly to the infrastructure development in the province capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Clinical Message: Generalized tetanus is still a global concern with a mortality rate of up to 50%, especially in low and middle‐income countries. We reported a 23‐year‐old man from Afghanistan admitted to emergency department, with the chief complaint of generalized severe spasms and lockjaw. The patient had skin lesions and had never been vaccinated against tetanus. He intubated and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with diagnose of severe generalized tetanus. After receiving tetanus immunoglobulin and intravenous metronidazole, a combination therapy of midazolam, propofol, atracurium, and morphine was administered. Due to the refractory muscular spasms intravenous phenobarbital started and little by little recovery was achieved. The patient receiving the first two doses of the Td vaccine, and discharged on Day 42 of hospitalization with no symptom recurrence. This case management showed adding phenobarbital to severe tetanus treatment regimen could significantly reduce refractory spasm caused by tetanus, also decrease other medication requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on practice theory to examine aspiring youths' pursuit of higher education in Afghanistan. It finds that plans and actions are mediated through youths' families, communities, and solidarity networks. As a result, the personal improvement and enhanced reputational status that aspiring youth seek is structurally connected to processes of social reproduction and social change. The paper is based on over 100 in-depth interviews conducted with youth in Afghanistan by an undergraduate research team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integration of renewable energies such as wind and solar with an energy storage system (ESS) in a distribution network is the interest of current studies in power system engineering. Wind and battery ESS (BESS) are known for their complement and efficient approaches into the distribution networks. The promising of renewable energies for wind and solar in Afghanistan is a motivation for stepping up the power sector of the country by enhancing the power quality as well as selfdependency in electricity production. In this study, a multi-objective optimisation technique, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is proposed for an extensive distribution network in Kabul city considering technical, environmental, and financial control schemes for the network improvement. Three different scenarios with various objective functions are deemed to evaluate their impact on decision variables and network parameters. Furthermore, optimum allocation of the wind turbine and charge/discharge scheduling of BESS are revealed with improvement in performance of the power system. Simulations are deployed in MATLAB® with its application on developed 162-bus real-distribution network to demonstrate the effect of different objective function arrangements in each scenario as well as confirming the robustness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) have been set up in South Asia jointly by national governments of origin and destination countries. Their objectives include encouragement of potential migrants to seek regular rather than irregular routes and to ensure the safety of those migrating, regardless of status. Of theoretical note, their activities utilise innovative, highly personalised counselling. This article provides quasi‐experimental evidence of the effect of four activities – telephone and online counselling, and college outreach and pre‐departure sessions – on 2215 randomly allocated users of the MRCs' services across six MRCs in four countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq and Pakistan. The effects are a large reduction in self‐reported likelihood of migrating irregularly, and a strong increase in awareness of safe options and who to contact for assistance whilst migrating. The effects are consistent across activity type and MRC location, although magnitudes vary. These findings have implications for our understanding of how the decision to migrate is made, what interventions are effective and why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The New Zealand (NZ) Ministry of Health ethnicity data protocols recommend that people of South Asian (SAsian) ethnicity, other than Indian, are combined with people of Japanese and Korean ethnicity at the most commonly used level of aggregation in health research (level two). This may not work well for perinatal studies, as it has long been observed that women of Indian ethnicity have higher rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as perinatal death. It is possible that women of other SAsian ethnicities share this risk. Aims: This study was performed to identify appropriate groupings of women of SAsian ethnicity for perinatal research. Materials and Methods: National maternity and neonatal data, and singleton birth records between 2008 and 2017 were linked using the Statistics NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure. Socio‐demographic risk profiles and pregnancy outcomes were compared between 15 ethnic groups. Recommendations were made based on statistical analyses and cultural evaluation with members of the SAsian research community. Results: Similarities were observed between women of Indian, Fijian Indian, South African Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnicities. A lower‐risk profile was seen among Japanese and Korean mothers. Risk profiles of women of combined Indian‐Māori, Indian‐Pacific and Indian‐New Zealand European ethnicity more closely represented their corresponding non‐Indian ethnicities. Conclusions: Based on these findings, we suggest a review of current NZ Ministry of Health ethnicity data protocols. We recommend that researchers understand the risk profiles of participants prior to aggregation of groups in research, to mitigate risks associated with masking differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Consumers may cope with stressful events and their resulting negative mental health outcomes through maladaptive behaviors. One such behavior is compulsive buying, an uncontrolled urge to purchase things. This can have devastating financial consequences, especially among vulnerable members of the population. Emotion regulation research suggests that differences in individuals' ability to manage and cope with stressors may attenuate their negative consequences. Thus, this research investigates whether expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal, two types of emotion regulation, moderate whether and how stressors related to a military deployment and its mental health outcomes relate to compulsive consumption. Approach: This prospective naturalistic multiphase study followed a US Army unit during a combat deployment cycle and analyzed survey data collected before, during, and after its members' deployment to Afghanistan. Findings: The findings identify the moderating role of emotion regulation strategies on the relationship between mental health symptoms and compulsive buying. Servicemembers with high mental health symptoms were less likely to engage in compulsive buying if they had high expressive suppression. Although the emotion regulatory profile of high suppression and low reappraisal is usually considered the least beneficial, it emerges as a buffer against engaging in compulsive buying behavior. Originality: This field study explored the rarely researched topic of compulsive buying within a military population that routinely faces stressful situations. The research also contributes to the growing body of evidence of the role of strategies for emotion regulation in the context of potentially maladaptive behaviors in the marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On June 21st, a Mw6.2 earthquake struck the Afghan‐Pakistan‐border‐region, situated within the India‐Asia collision. Thousand thirty‐nine deaths were reported, making the earthquake the deadliest of 2022. We investigate the event's rupture processes by combining seismological and geodetic observations, aiming to understand what made it that fatal. Our Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar‐constrained slip‐model and regional moment‐tensor inversion, confirmed through field observations, reveal a sinistral rupture with maximum slip of 1.8 m at 5 km depth on a N20°E striking, sub‐vertical fault. We suggest that not only external factors (event‐time, building stock) but fault‐specific factors made the event excessively destructive. Surface rupture was favored by the rock foliation, coinciding with the fault strike. The distribution of Peak‐Ground‐Velocity was governed by the sub‐vertical fault. Maximum slip was large compared to other events globally and might have resulted in peak‐frequencies coinciding with resonance‐frequencies of the local buildings and demonstrates the devastating impact of moderate‐size earthquakes. Plain Language Summary: The June 2022 devastating M6.2 Afghanistan earthquake has caused a high depth toll, making it the deadliest earthquake of 2022. This is notable and partly intriguing as the earthquake size is much smaller than other events that happened in 2022. Therefore, we combine a range of geophysical, geodetic and geological methods to understand how exactly the subsurface ruptured during the earthquake. We suggest that it was a combination of the local circumstances (the event time, as it hit at night time, and the building stock) and the geometry of the rupture surface together with the local geology that made this event particularly deadly. More generally, this study shows the excessive hazard and impact caused by moderate‐size earthquakes. Key Points: We combine Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, moment tensor inversion, field mapping and Peak‐Ground‐Velocity (PGV) simulations to investigate the rupture processesThe event had a sinistral rupture with maximum slip of 1.8 m at 5 km depth on a N20°E striking, sub‐vertical faultCoincidence of large slip, fault geometry and alignment of rock foliation with strike enhanced PGV and the destructiveness of the event [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brokers have long been scrutinised for their purported disloyalty, but brokers' own attachments and expectations remain largely neglected. This article contributes to scholarship by shifting from the much‐discussed betrayal by brokers, to betrayal of brokers. It maps three forms of betrayal—interpersonal, institutional and ideological—drawing on unique empirical material, including interviews with Afghan interpreters who worked for western armies. It argues that the betrayal of brokers is facilitated by conditions of reduced demand and weak social ties in an unequal global order. When brokers' remit is largely dictated by their patron, brokers stand more to lose than to gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a growing number of activists in Afghanistan have been proactively self‐identifying as Sunni Hazaras. The trend demonstrates an important shift that illuminates how ethnic boundaries may change and evolve in response to elite politics and state policies in Afghanistan. Many of the communities that are the subjects of new collective identity discourses share important commonalities, including shared belief in a common origin, with the Shi'a Hazaras. However, because the Shi'a Hazaras were persecuted and marginalised under successive regimes in Afghanistan, it was not common for these communities to publicly identify as Hazaras. Instead, they tended to identify with local identity categories such as those based on places of origin or as Tajiks because, like most Tajiks, they speak Dari and practise Sunni Islam. This article contributes to understanding these dynamics through a detailed examination of the National Council of the Sunni Hazaras of Afghanistan. Taking a social constructivist approach, it develops an argument that emphasises an interactive process between state formation and top‐down programmes of national identity construction and bottom‐up resistance by groups that appropriate and articulate ethnic and other forms of ethnic identities to demand political representation and symbolic recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A comprehensive review of the surgical management of injuries sustained by deployed members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) during Operation SLIPPER and HIGHROAD in Afghanistan has not previously been undertaken. Understanding the mechanism of injury, injury types sustained and surgical intervention undertaken should provide valuable information for future health planning and surgical capability determination. Methods: Retrospective chart review of scanned medical records of injured personnel identified through casualty register examination was undertaken. Results: There were 259 ADF personnel injured in Afghanistan between January 2002 and December 2021, of which 53 were seriously (SI), or very seriously injured (VSI). Case notes for 90 of 101 casualties including those sustaining VSI, SI and those classified as being in satisfactory condition, but likely requiring surgery and/or returned to Australia following trauma, were available for review. Most patients with VSI/SI required surgery (93%) and most were returned to Australia following injury (91%). Almost two‐thirds (64.4%) of initial surgery was undertaken at a Role 2 E medical treatment facility (MTF). Gun‐shot wound (GSW) was the commonest injuring mechanism (47%) followed by blast injury (39.6%). Orthopaedic (32.2%) and soft tissue initial wound surgery (47.1%) were the commonest surgical procedures. Discussion: Surgical management of military trauma was undertaken at multiple sites by multiple surgical teams from different nationalities delivering exceptional results and conforming to modern principles of damage control surgery. The military trauma system is distinctly different from its civilian counterpart with dispersion of assets requiring multiple episodes of casualty movement between echelons of care rather than centralization at level 1 trauma centres. Despite this, excellent results are achievable. Strengthening lines of communication and documentation would reinforce the ability of the military trauma system to continue to provide such results, and regular oversight and review of surgical caseload would align military trauma surgery with civilian standards. The benchmark set by the United States Department of Defense Trauma Registry should be replicated for Australian led combat operations and modified to facilitate interoperability to support future coalition combat operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US withdrawal that left the Taliban in control of Afghanistan has created a security dilemma for China. Beijing considers its Uyghur population to be a terror threat, and it believes the Taliban are allowing the group to use Afghanistan as a refuge from which to plan attacks and transit into Central Asian neighbors. This article analyzes both the historical record and recent moves by China to explain Beijing's strategy of engaging with the Taliban and developing the Afghan economy. The study indicates that the approach has some potential benefits if, as the Chinese assume, economic growth yields stability, good governance, and a cohesive state that can combat terror groups. However, the article demonstrates that Afghan history, the Taliban's ideology, and the vicious circle of instability, economic stagnation, and further chaos are likely to subvert China's goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides insights into the role of the nuclear family for refugees' social capital in Austria, with a focus on gender‐specific differences. We use a multimethod approach, based on quantitative data from a survey with 548 refugees from Syria and Afghanistan and semi‐structured group discussions (N = 17 informants). In our analysis, we study frequency of contacts in first language and in German, as proxies for the bonding and bridging social capital. Marital status, childlessness and family work were identified as important factors: Frequency of contact substantially varied by gender and family context. Of all surveyed groups, married childless women and married men with children had the least contacts in both languages. Although an unequal distribution of childcare may limit women's time resources, we observed a positive association between motherhood and frequency of contact in German. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous and progressive efforts are being made globally to eradicate the incidence of poliovirus. The detrimental nature of polio calls for action of global vaccination. Owing to large‐scale vaccination efforts, many countries have been declared polio‐free and people are fully vaccinated against poliovirus. However, concern still remains as new cases are being identified in countries declared polio‐free. This scenario is particularly noticed due to the comprised healthcare system in the past 3 years of the Corona pandemic. Conditions for lower‐middle‐income countries are more problematic, where there are meager healthcare resources and the burden on the healthcare system is higher. Studies indicate some cases of non‐paralytic species of polio including cVDPV1, cVDPV2, and cVDPV3 in the group of outbreak countries. However, the major problem is associated with wild‐type poliovirus, that is, WPV1 which leads to paralytic disease and is still present in endemic countries, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. The incidence rate of wild polio cases has significantly decreased in comparison to the past years but the problem needs to be dealt with at the grass‐roots level. In this article, the most recent data have been collected pertaining to the incidence of multivariant species of poliovirus, with a special focus on endemic and outbreak countries. A short overview of challenges to vaccination and a recommendatory overview has also been included for dealing with polio surges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dust storms in eastern Iran have a wide range of socioeconomic impacts, yet long‐term numerical model analysis of the mechanism of strong winds and dust events in this region is limited. The regional climate model version 4 (RegCM4) coupled with a dust module is used to understand the climatology, climatic change, and the dynamic mechanism of the Levar wind and dust events in eastern Iran for the period 1991–2017. It is found that the strong Levar wind is the main driver of dust events in eastern Iran, particularly from June to September. Both model simulation and observations indicate that the Levar wind is strongest on the border between South Khorasan Province in Iran and Afghanistan. Our analysis indicates that the Levar wind is caused by the development of anomalous surface high pressure in Central Asia extending toward northeastern Iran and anomalous surface low pressure on the border between western Afghanistan and Pakistan. The strong pressure gradient force associated with these anomalous high‐ and low‐pressure systems is responsible for the strong northerly Levar wind on the border between Iran and Afghanistan. Dust activity in eastern Iran exhibits a distinct seasonality. The highest dust emission occurs on the border between eastern South Khorasan Province in Iran and western Afghanistan from June to September, where near‐surface winds are also the strongest. Relatively less dust emission occurs in dry beds of Jazmourian from June to September, south of Saravan in May, and Rig‐e Yalan in June. The removal of dust particles from the atmosphere is mainly by dry deposition in eastern Iran. The main sink of dust is located in the western parts of the Sistan Basin. Dust emission and burden in the main source of dust in eastern Iran have significantly decreased during the period 1991–2017, while near‐surface wind speed has remained nearly unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased flood risks have been projected, but with large uncertainties, in the Kabul River Basin (Afghanistan and Pakistan). To place future changes in a long‐term perspective, we produce a 382‐year precipitation reconstruction for the basin using seven tree‐ring chronologies of old‐growth conifers from the Hindu Kush Mountains, a monsoon‐shadow area. The reconstruction proves robust over rigorous cross‐validations (R2 = 0.60, RE = 0.60, CE = 0.53). The full reconstruction (1637–2018) reveals a steady decline in the low end of the precipitation distribution, implying increasing drought risks. We show that droughts are getting more severe, shorter, and more frequent, interspersed with more frequent pluvials in the past century. Drought risks, compounded with projected flood intensification, pose significant threats for this transboundary river. Therefore, future water management needs to account for both flood and drought risks and be informed by long‐term hydroclimatic variability. Plain Language Summary: The Kabul River is a transboundary river spanning eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. It is an important tributary of the Indus, one of the world's largest rivers with intensive water withdrawals for human use. With climate change, the Kabul River is projected to have more frequent and larger floods, but the projections are very uncertain. To have a better understanding of these future projections, we need to look at how the region's climate has changed in the past. Tree rings are a valuable source of information to serve that need. Using old‐growth conifers from the Hindu Kush Mountains, western Himalaya, we reconstruct four centuries of precipitation (rainfall) history for the Kabul River Basin. From the reconstruction, we observe that dry years are getting drier. Thus, the risks of severe droughts are increasing. Prolonged droughts are being replaced by shorter but more frequent ones, and periods of sustained high precipitation are also becoming more frequent. When seen in combination with earlier reports, our results imply that the Kabul River Basin is facing both floods and drought risks, and these are significant threats to the water security of the basin. Key Points: Robust, skillful precipitation reconstruction of the Kabul River Basin from tree ringsSteady decline in the low end of the precipitation distribution implies increasing drought risksProlonged droughts are being replaced by shorter, more frequent ones, interspersed with more frequent pluvials [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicinal plants are the primary and effective source to cure various human ailments throughout the globe. The remote area of the Pashat valley at the Pakistan–Afghanistan border is still unexplored to document ethnomedicinal knowledge and practices. In the current study, the contemporary investigation recorded the native acquaintance of remedial plants. A total of 73 plant species belonging to 68 genera and 46 families were used by traditional communities for the treatment of 40 different kinds of human diseases including digestive, respiratory, urinary, skeletal, muscular systems, etc. The family Lamiaceae was found dominant with 9 species followed by Leguminosae and Solanaceae with 4 species each, Euphorbiaceae, Moraceae, Rhamnaceae and Rosaceae with three species each. The most frequently used parts of plants were leaves (35.7%) followed by fruits (22.4%), seeds (12.2%), roots (7.14%) and plants as a whole (6.12%). Whereas the remedy preparation approaches were in powder form (28.46%), decoction (26.15%), extract (20%) and a paste (11.54%). The quantitative ethnobotanical indices i.e. used value (UV), relative frequency citation (RFC), family importance value (FIV) and Jaccard index (JI) were calculated for all plant species. The used value (UV = 0.04) was found highest for Berberis lyceum, Myrtus communis, Punica granatum and Dodonea viscosa. Similarly, the maximum RFC value of 0.25 was investigated for Foeniculum vulgare and Olea ferruginea each. Besides, the highest FIV of 96.08% and 58.17% values were calculated for the family Lamiaceae and Solanaceae. This study shows that the corresponding area is rich in medicinal plants and could contribute to ethnomedicinal knowledge. The collected data will establish a baseline for the comprehensive investigation of active molecular constituents of the medicinal flora of the area. Soon, the exploration of these medicinal plants could discover new herbal drugs in the field of pharmacology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: The COVID-19 pandemic is the most recent instance of global development problems being liable to occur anywhere, challenging the assumption of a world divided into "developed" and "developing" countries. Recent scholarship has increasingly opted for the term "global development" to capture this changing geography of development problems. Purpose: Our article contributes to these debates by proposing a novel empirical approach to localize global development problems in country contexts worldwide. Methods and approach: Our approach rests on a universal understanding of "development." We identify countries that are particularly relevant for global problem-solving and consider not only the problem dimension but also countries' capacities to address these problems. Findings: Our results show that countries with the most severe combinations of problems cover a range as broad as Afghanistan, Nigeria, and the United States. Two thirds of countries with above-average contributions to global problems are governed by authoritarian regimes. We also find that middle income countries, whether lower-middle or upper-middle as defined by the World Bank, have little in common apart from their income level. Policy implications: Our analysis shows that traditional development concepts of a binary world order and of foreign aid as financial transfer to remedy imbalances are not enough to address constellations of global problems and capacity that have long evolved beyond rich and poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The report by the United Nations in 2020 stated that Afghanistan was ranked 118th position in the e‐participation index which shows the low level of adoption among the Afghan citizens to online services offered by the e‐government websites in Afghanistan. As no previous research has been conducted to explore the influential factors on the adoption of e‐government websites in Afghanistan, this research fills the research gap by exploring the impact of website quality factors, trust factors, and technology adoption factors on intention to use e‐government websites from the citizens' perspective in Afghanistan. This research also investigates the impact of factors on the adoption of governmental websites at three levels (information, interaction, and transaction) of e‐government maturity. As part of the current research, the unified model of e‐government adoption (UMEGA) model was extended by integrating website quality factors and trust factors, which were extracted based on an extensive literature review. To validate the model, a survey of 294 Afghan citizens was conducted in four provinces of Afghanistan. The data were then analyzed using the partial least square‐structured equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) technique. The result revealed that websites quality, technology adoption, and trust factors have major impacts on the adoption of e‐government websites in Afghanistan, the impact of which varies depending on the level of e‐government maturity. Public administrators, officials, policymakers, website designers, and researchers have potential implications from the findings of this research regarding the adoption of governmental websites in Afghanistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement: The production and availability of food underpins societal stability. In Afghanistan, wheat is the major arable agricultural crop and source of dietary energy. The withdrawal of NATO allies and partner countries from Afghanistan presents numerous well‐documented societal and political challenges and has impacts on immediate and longer‐term food security. Conflict‐impacted irrigation infrastructure coupled with growing climate instability have also contributed markedly to reductions in current food, and specifically wheat, production. Here, we review the status of Afghan wheat improvement and propose a research agenda to support the regeneration of Afghanistan's wheat and agricultural sector. Summary: Afghanistan is a country with diverse natural ecologies in a largely arid and mountainous region. The rural sector is still considered to drive economic potential. Current social, political and economic instability along with climatic challenges are driving food and water insecurity in the wider region. In the short term, it is likely that this and the associated challenges of displacement and unemployment can only be addressed by humanitarian intervention and agrifood and nutrition support. In the medium to long term, drought, and heat, probably linked to climate change, will pose recurrent challenges for agriculture and food security that will require a much broader set of interventions to secure the rural population's livelihoods. The genetic gap, among other major challenges, must be addressed if Afghanistan is to develop its agricultural potential leading to income and livelihood improvements for farmers and stable and accessible supplies for consumers. Only thereby will the country be enabled to reap the important and long‐sought trade and food security benefits derived from self‐sufficiency. Here, we highlight the agricultural challenges facing Afghanistan and propose forward strategies for ensuring the future stability of wheat production, the cornerstone of Afghan agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indus Basin is the second largest river basin in Asia shared by China, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Rapid climatic changes and exponential population growth have put tremendous pressure on the already depleting water resources in Indus Basin. The absence of supra‐national authority and a basin‐wide cooperation agreement is further exaggerating Basin's challenges. Moreover, an already existing Indus Water Treaty, a bilateral treaty signed between India and Pakistan is proving to be insufficient to regulate the water supply amidst the growing political tensions among the Indus riparian. To address this cross‐boundary issue, armed with game theory‐based strategies, this research proposes optimal water allocation solutions. The study adopted Bankruptcy and Asymmetric Nash bargaining solutions to determine optimal water allocations/Pareto‐optimal solutions. The results show that the optimal allocation for Pakistan and India are 181.95 and 101.95 km3 respectively, while for Afghanistan and China, the optimal allocation was found to be 2.99 and 0.11 km3 respectively. The sensitivity analysis reveals that the water allocations of Pakistan and India are sensitive to their respective changes in water claims, while insensitive to the changes in water claim of Afghanistan and China. The findings of the study can be used for negotiations and have the potential to serve as a major tool in bringing stability in the region by allocating the water optimally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Treatment dropout has been problematic with evidence‐based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including cognitive processing therapy (CPT). This study sought to evaluate whether CPT group contributed to symptom improvement among treatment completers and non‐completers. Methods: Sixty‐one Iraq and Afghanistan combat Veterans self‐selected CPT group or treatment as usual (TAU) forming a convenience sample. Defining treatment completion as attending at least nine sessions: 18 completed treatment, 20 dropped‐out (DOs); 20 completed TAU, 3 lost to TAU follow‐up. Results: Multiple Regression revealed significant pre−post‐treatment improvement, the Clinician‐Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS‐IV, F(5, 40.1) = 2.53, p = 0.0436). Reviewing DOs' last available PTSD Checklist‐Military Version scores before leaving treatment, six achieved clinically significant improvement of >10 points; seven a clinically reliable change of 5−10 points. Conclusion: These findings highlight that CPT group may be effective at reducing trauma‐related symptoms among treatment completers and dropouts and point to the utility of a clinical definition of good treatment end‐state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The departing point of this study is to understand the implications of 'nation‐building' as a Western initiative in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021) particularly in terms of the local conceptualisation of nation or millat. Based on this larger question, the goal of this study is to reveal the idea of nation as presented in the discourse of education constructed by the state of Afghanistan. To this end, the study employs three major primary resources: official state documents, school textbooks and expert interviews conducted at the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan. Pursuing a qualitative research methodology, the study uncovers four major elements that make up the idea of the 'nation of Afghanistan' or the millat‐e Afghanistan: (1) Islam, (2) watan (homeland), (3) qawm and (4) Afghaniyat (Afghanness). Reflecting a very specific understanding of nation that is peculiar to the context of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, this study concludes that the Western‐imposed form of nation has a local content which struggles hard to keep the idea of nation together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study deals with headache in relation to other major sequelae of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan wars over 8 years after experiencing a deployment‐related TBI (DTBI). Background: TBI occurred in 14%–23% of veterans deployed to the Iraq or Afghanistan campaigns. This study evaluates sequelae of TBI (STBI) over 1–8 years after a DTBI. Methods: This is a secondary, cross‐sectional analysis of previously collected data, which was taken from review of medical records of the first 500 veterans with a DTBI seen in the TBI clinic of the Oklahoma City Veterans Health Center. This report deals with five of the most common STBIs and represents the presence and severity of, or absence of, the particular symptom at the time of a patient's initial visit to the clinic. All subjects were evaluated between June 1, 2008, and April 30, 2011. The STBI used here include: headache, dizziness, balance, coordination difficulties, and difficulty with decisions. In the TBI clinic, the burden of these symptoms was evaluated with a Likert Scale of none, mild, moderate, severe, or very severe. For this report, the scale was compressed into three categories: none, mild/moderate, and severe/very severe. Data were complete for age at TBI and mechanism of TBI in 500 subjects, for symptom severity in 497 subjects, for TBI severity in 491 subjects, and for presence of prior TBI in 496 subjects. Results: For the 497 subjects with complete symptom severity data, headache was seen in 476 (95.8%) and absent in 21 (4.2%). Regarding headache severity, 236 (47.5%) reported mild/moderate and 240 (48.3%) reported severe/very severe headache burden. For other sequelae, including severity of dizziness, balance, and coordination problems, these symptoms were absent in 85 (17.1%), 85 (17.1%), and 106 (21.3%) patients, respectively; of mild/moderate severity in 356 (71.6%), 355 (71.4%), and 321 (64.6%) patients; and of severe/very severe intensity in 56 (11.3%), 57 (11.5%), and 70 (14.1%) patients. Difficulty with decisions, which was used as an indication of cognitive difficulty, was noted in 429 (86.3%) of the subjects, of which 252 (50.7%) noted mild/moderate and 177 (35.6%) severe/very severe intensity. To evaluate changes over time, the subjects were divided into 2‐year cohorts of 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, and 7–8 years since DTBI. Comparing symptom burden within these four 2‐year cohorts, there was no statistically significant change in symptom burden analyzing by time interval from DTBI to TBI clinic evaluation. For analysis by severity of the DTBI in 491 subjects with complete data, categories were constructed based on alteration of consciousness (AOC) or duration of loss of consciousness (LOC) as follows: AOC (264/491 [53.8%]); LOC <1 min (95/491 [19.4%]); LOC, 1–30 min (115/491 [23.4%]); and LOC >30 min (17/491 [3.5%]). The proportion of subjects with severe/very severe symptom intensity increased as the severity of the DTBI increased (from p = 0.043 to p = 0.001). Additional evaluations included groupings by age at DTBI (20–29, 30–39, and ≥40 years), by presence or absence of a TBI prior to the DTBI, and by causation of the DTBI (blast or direct head trauma). No significant differences were observed with any of these comparisons. Conclusion: For veterans experiencing a DTBI, these TBI‐related sequelae persist with little improvement over time up to 8 years. A trend toward symptoms becoming worse as DTBI severity increased was observed. Headache was the most frequent sequela of TBI, occurring in 96% of the patients with almost half of these reporting severe/very severe intensity of headache burden. The basis for the prolonged persistence of these STBI is not known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinization and sodification are types of degradation associated with the accumulation of salts and alkaline materials in the soil. They gradually advance unnoticed till severe degradation appears if not properly controlled. Relevant soil information is not routinely kept by many countries thus contributing to their advancement particularly in agricultural areas where their impacts have huge consequences on food security. We developed a 3‐step protocol to detect salinization and sodification advancement at different spatial scales and support soil information system development. The first step establishes an indicator database focusing on measured soil Electrical Conductivity (EC), pH, Exchangeable Sodium Percent (ESP), and a suit of environmental covariates. The second step outlines data harmonization strategies and classification of salinization and sodification problems. It also incorporates digital soil mapping for spatial information on salinization or sodification. The third step has time‐series modelling of salinization and sodification using mixed‐effects approach to improve hotspot detection in agricultural areas. The protocol was tested in Afghanistan, Sudan, and Lesotho using time‐series data between 2001 and 2018. It successfully identified salt and soda accumulation at different soil depths with more than 80% accuracy on holdout samples. In Sudan and Afghanistan, it identified topsoils as more prone to salinization than the subsoils and consequently depicted more salt accumulation in topsoils than subsoils in agricultural areas. In Lesotho, it identified emerging subsoil sodification. The protocol has potential for supporting the development of soil information on salinization and sodification which is currently lacking at many national and regional levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]