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[Book Review] The Dhofar War: British covert campaigning in Arabia 1965–1975
No full textNo description supplied</p
Routes, racism, and the hostile environment: Public and political opposition to asylum seekers arriving in the UK
No full textThis contribution examines current public and political concerns about asylum seekers arriving in the UK, which are disproportionate to their small share of overall immigration arrivals. It situates current hostility in a recent historical trajectory of deterrence politics, from the 2012 “Hostile Environment” to subsequent political slogans, i.e. “Stop the Boats”. Drawing on official statistics and opinion polls, it highlights public overestimates of asylum numbers and explores how political narratives have amplified moral panics around asylum seekers arriving in ‘small boats’. The contribution then considers the Labour Government’s continuation of deterrence policies that penalise irregular arrivals, and the comparative moral positioning of those arriving via so-called ‘safe and legal’ routes versus those arriving via the facilitation of smugglers. It argues that political narratives framing asylum seekers’ mode of entry as a marker of legitimacy or credibility reinforces racialised hierarchies of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ immigrants, and enables the entry of far-right rhetoric into mainstream politics. Arguably, such narratives undermine refugee protection and exacerbate exclusion of other racialised minorities in the UK.</p
Diazepam modulates anterior cingulate glutamate levels in people at clinical high-risk for psychosis
No full textObjectivePreclinical evidence suggests that modulating neural excitation through administration of diazepam, a positive allosteric modulator of GABAA receptors, can prevent the emergence of behavioral and neurobiological alterations relevant to psychosis in adulthood.Design and ParticipantsHere, we examine this neurochemical mechanism in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Twenty-four individuals (15 female and 9 male) aged 18-35 were scanned twice using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure anterior cingulate cortex Glx (glutamate and glutamine) levels, once after a single dose of diazepam (5 mg) and once after placebo.ResultsMixed-effects model analyses revealed that diazepam reduced anterior cingulate cortex Glx levels compared to placebo (t(20.8) = −2.14, P = .04). The effect of diazepam on Glx levels was greater in older individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (t(12) = −4.36, P = .001).ConclusionThese findings suggest that pharmacological modulation of GABAA receptors can alter Glx changes in and support a novel therapeutic mechanism of benefit for individuals at clinical high risk of psychosis.</p
[Abstract] A multimodal observational case-control study exploring gut microbiota – hippocampus alterations in high positive schizotypy individuals from the general population
No full textBackground: Hippocampal dysfunction is widely implicated in the pathophysiology of psychosis and is increasingly recognized in individuals with subclinical psychotic traits, such as those exhibiting high positive schizotypy. Across the psychosis continuum, reduced hippocampal volume, regional hyperperfusion, and an imbalance between glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) have been associated with cognitive impairments and increased risk for progression to clinical disorders. Parallel research highlights the gut microbiota’s influence on brain metabolism and inflammation, particularly through short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production. Despite growing interest in the gut–brain axis, the role of microbial composition in shaping hippocampal structure and function in healthy individuals with schizotypy has not been sufficiently investigated.Aim: This study aimed to explore whether individuals with high positive schizotypy (HS) from the general population differ from low schizotypy (LS) controls in hippocampal volume, perfusion, and neurotransmitter levels, and whether these neural markers are associated with alterations in gut microbiota composition.Methods: In a cross-sectional, multimodal case-control design, 142 healthy participants were grouped into HS (n = 69) or LS (n = 72) based on the Unusual Experiences subscale of the sO-LIFE questionnaire. All participants underwent comprehensive clinical and cognitive testing, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), arterial spin labeling (ASL) to assess cerebral blood flow in hippocampal regions, and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) to quantify hippocampal glutamate and GABA concentrations. Fecal samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing to assess microbial diversity, taxonomic abundance, and enterotype distribution. Statistical analyses included t-tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, chi-squared tests, and Spearman correlations within groups. Correlation differences between HS and LS were evaluated using Fisher’s r-to-z transformation, with Benjamini–Hochberg correction applied by modality.Results: Compared to LS participants, the HS group exhibited significantly lower performance in selective attention (Cohen’s d = 0.42), processing speed (d = 0.34), and working memory (d = 0.46). Neuroimaging showed trends toward increased volume in the right presubiculum body (d = 0.30) and reduced volume in the left hippocampus–amygdala transitional area (d = 0.32). While no group differences were observed in mean glutamate or GABA concentrations, Glu/GABA (r = 0.38, p = .003) and GABA/NAA (r = –0.36, p = .003) ratios were significantly associated with social withdrawal in HS. Gut microbiota analysis identified lower abundance of SCFA-producing genera, including Gordonibacter (z = –2.23, punc = .006) and Eubacterium D (z = –2.09, punc = .031), in HS. These taxa correlated with both hippocampal markers and schizotypal traits, although results did not withstand multiple comparison correction.Conclusions: This study is the first to combine multimodal neuroimaging and microbiota profiling in a nonclinical schizotypy sample. Results suggest that subtle hippocampal alterations and microbial shifts co-occur in subclinical psychosis. These associations, though preliminary, support the hypothesis that gut–brain interactions may influence early psychosis risk. Longitudinal, mechanistic studies integrating neuroimaging, metagenomics, and metabolomics are needed to clarify causal pathways and assess microbiome-targeted interventions.</p
The Care-Full Study: assessing the feasibility of a mixed-method longitudinal data collection approach for unpaid carers of people with multiple long-term conditions
No full textBackgroundResearch on unpaid carers often relies on survey and interview data that are cross-sectional or infrequently repeated, providing limited insight into how carers’ experiences and wellbeing evolve over time. Combining frequent longitudinal surveys with regular qualitative check-ins offers a promising mixed-method approach for capturing change, yet there is limited evidence on the feasibility of implementing such data collection strategies over extended periods.MethodsAs part of the NIHR-funded Care-Full study, we tested the feasibility of a mixed-method longitudinal data collection approach combining fortnightly digital self-report surveys with monthly qualitative check-ins facilitated by trained peer researchers with lived experience of caring. Fifteen unpaid carers were recruited across three sites in England and followed for up to ten months. Feasibility outcomes included recruitment and retention, completion rates, data missingness, engagement with an event-triggered “point of change” mini-survey component, and participant feedback on research participation, accessibility, and data collection approaches.ResultsEngagement with routine longitudinal data collection was high. No participants withdrew for reasons related to study burden, and completion of fortnightly surveys exceeded 93%, with minimal missing data across key measures of quality of life, health, and caregiving activities. The event-triggered “point of change” survey component proved difficult to implement in practice, with delayed reporting and lower completion rates, and was discontinued after four months. Monthly peer-researcher check-ins were consistently valued by participants, supporting sustained engagement and enabling contextualisation of survey responses over time.ConclusionsThis feasibility study demonstrates that a mixed-method longitudinal approach combining regular digital surveys with peer-researcher engagement can support sustained data collection with unpaid carers over extended periods. Predictable, low-burden survey schedules were feasible, while regular peer-facilitated qualitative engagement enhanced the interpretability of longitudinal data. The findings provide methodological insights to inform future research seeking to collect longitudinal data on carers’ experiences and wellbeing over time.</p
How on-demand agency of anonymous group exercise membership supports emergence-based social identity transition in mid-life
No full textMidlife's challenges, changes and demands can create barriers to maintaining group activities, which, for some, include attending in-person group exercise classes. As a potential solution, on-demand group exercise platforms offer agency over participation, anonymity and community interaction. This research explores how social identification processes shape participation within an on-demand group exercise platform. Twenty on-demand group exercise participants aged 40–64 were recruited for three data collection stages: (1) an initial semi-structured interview on exercise history and on-demand usage; (2) a two-week post-exercise diary capturing social identification experiences and (3) a follow-up interview to discuss topics from the first two stages. Results highlight how, through anonymous participation in on-demand group exercise, participants experienced a sense of agency, inclusion and community while feeling socially supported both during and after participation. Findings from this study suggest four factors that can impact social identification within on-demand exercise platforms, namely, (a) creating a collective learning event to foster unity, (b) providing anonymity and agency to enable increased exercise trial, (c) enabling exercise participation from self-excluded groups and (d) amplifying life-stage similarity and support both on-screen and via social media.</p
Decolonising innovation in sustainability transitions for pluriversal justice and wellbeing
No full textSustainability scholars address social-ecological injustices associated with innovation processes, through concepts such as ‘just transitions’ and ‘energy justice’. However, the making of today’s innovations by deep and pervasive formations of power and privilege – colonial modernities – is currently neglected in sustainability transition studies. We conceptualise nine epistemological and ontological foundations of distinctively colonial-modern innovation processes. These foundations include: fixing categorical divides on flowing relations; stratifying rigidly separated orders; promoting appropriation of privileges; objectifying and reifying realities; monopolising quantifications; standardising practices; singularising ontology, by approaching the pluriverse (of many different and connected ways of knowing, being and doing in disparate worlds) as just one world; and dominating other worlds by colonial-modern worldmaking.Taken together, these interwoven foundations point to the following actions to help decolonise modern innovation processes: recognising and challenging colonial formations of concentrated power and privilege as they are built into modern knowing; extending egalitarian relations towards intersectionally marginalised contributors in knowledge production; grasping multifarious encompassment by wider material and living ecologies of beings notionally separated as ‘human’ or ‘nonhuman’; embracing inherent uncertainties in all that can be known or made, to imbue knowing and making with humility and care; admitting open pluralities of qualities, which include approaching dimensions of categories as fluid; and supporting pluriversal reparations spanning many ways of knowing, in struggles to dismantle coloniality everywhere. Decolonising innovation processes in these ways, we propose, can contribute to deeper decolonial transformations of modernities in solidarity with colonially subordinated peoples’ struggles for pluriversal wellbeing and justice. Without realising such justice for the flourishing of many worlds, sustainability may remain little more than a modern illusion.</p
Towards an orderly and just exit from fossil fuels
No full textThe international community faces a conundrum. Without more ambitious action to curtail fossil fuel production, climate goals are impossible to realise. Though an emerging array of minilateral international governance initiatives promote cooperation to reduce support to fossil fuels through export finance and subsidies and voluntary commitments to forego fossil fuel reserves, a just transition away from fossil fuels will require a more multilateral response to address challenges such as uneven capacity to diversity economies, differential obligations to move away from fossil fuels based on historical use of them and the financial constraints which inhibit many states from reducing their dependence on fossil fuels. Such a move will be fiercely resisted by fossil fuelled great powers. This article explores these tensions between the need for an orderly and just transition, but one which is able to disrupt incumbent forms of power currently resisting measures to cut the supply of fossil fuels, before exploring potential pathways forward. Though often neglected in discussions of global energy transition, a growing number of states now recognise the need for global oversight and regulation of fossil production and are starting to articulate what form such a response might take. This paper takes stock of such efforts and explores future political and institutional pathways towards a more orderly and just exit from fossil fuels and argues that while minilateral club responses create important momentum, ultimately a multilateral agreement will be necessary to address the competing goals, diverse interests and different dimensions of a just transition.</p