Academic literature on the topic 'European Defense Community – History'

<em>In the aftermath of the Second World War, European integration progressed rapidly. Despite economic performance, the European community is far from playing a major role in security and defense. The catalyst for a European defense policy is the war in Yugoslavia, which shows that Europeans are dependent on Americans. Thus, the EU has the CSDP and has conducted many military and civilian operations. Yet a new wave of academic studies, launched by proponents of American neorealism, argues that the EU is engaged in an attempt to “balance” the US by exploiting the CSDP. By studying European history in terms of security, we find that the balancing theory can not be justified.</em>

Communist propaganda was sharply critical of all integration attempts made in Western Europe. In numerous political posters and cartoons published in Poland, the brunt of the criticism was borne by the European Defense Community (EDC) from October 1950, when the idea of military integration was first proposed by French Prime Minister René Pleven, until August 1954, when a vote in the French National Assembly effectively killed the project. Through a contextualized discussion of selected posters and cartoons, which are reproduced in the text, this article relates Polish visual anti-EDC propaganda to aspects of Communist ideology, Soviet geostrategic interests, and Polish domestic politics and shows how the propaganda was intended to help the Communist authorities achieve specific goals.

The article highlights the key points of Margaret Thatcher’s activities in the context of relations with the European Community (later the European Union) as Prime Minister of Great Britain. The authors describe the stages of Thatcher’s formation as a politician, the circumstances that shaped her relations with the leaders of France and Germany, and the prerequisites for reaching compromises in the economic and political spheres. The article analyzes Thatcher’s position on the Single European act, as well as the reasons for the geopolitical miscalculation regarding the document’s further role in European integration. The Prime Minister’s opinion on the potential of forming European defense within the framework of the concept of intergovernmentalism and its place in the system of relations between the EU and the United States is studied.

The article highlights the key points of Margaret Thatcher’s activities in the context of relations with the European Community (later the European Union) as Prime Minister of Great Britain. The authors describe the stages of Thatcher’s formation as a politician, the circumstances that shaped her relations with the leaders of France and Germany, and the prerequisites for reaching compromises in the economic and political spheres. The article analyzes Thatcher’s position on the Single European act, as well as the reasons for the geopolitical miscalculation regarding the document’s further role in European integration. The Prime Minister’s opinion on the potential of forming European defense within the framework of the concept of intergovernmentalism and its place in the system of relations between the EU and the United States is studied.

By 1955, the formation of a Cold War bloc in Western Europe was complete. The Western European Union (WEU), a redesigned Brussels Treaty Organisation (BTO) within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with West Germany and Italy as members, was created. The 1954 Paris Agreements that established WEU also enabled West Germany to become a virtually sovereign actor, and a member of NATO. The Agreements were effected on the rubble of an acrimonious four-year international debate over a proposed European Defence Community (EDC). This would have created a European army for France, the Benelux countries, Italy and West Germany on the model of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and a parallel political community for the Six.

Historians of the Middle Ages have long reflected on the chronicles and archival sources of Western Europe, seeking to find the birth of the modern state. This thesis represents one such contribution to this historical problem, exploring the question of political centralization in the kingdom of France during the reigns of Capetian kings between 1151 and 1247. Focusing on the county of Anjou, this thesis contends that local aristocrats not only constructed their own political community but also used local customs to shape the contours of centralization in Anjou. Angevin sources suggest that state-building in France emerged less from conquest and occupation than as the result of cooperation between the political center and peripheral communities. The kings of France benefited from the loyalty of the Angevin political community, while local elites used royal concessions to define and defend their political and legal rights as Angevins.

Widows as individuals and as a social group held fundamental importance to both the family and civic life of early modern Castile. Archival sources indicate that widows' influence throughout all levels of Castilian society was magnified by their relative degree of legal autonomy, combined with a tacit acceptance of women's activities in many areas of familial and municipal life. The use of documents more closely reflecting women's daily activities allows for contextualization of the complex impact of moral and legal rhetoric on the social construction of widowhood, providing concrete examples of widows' practical and often highly tactical employment, evasion, and/or manipulation of patriarchal and moral norms. The experience of widowhood both forces a re-examination of gender boundaries by questioning current theories of female enclosure and demands a re-evaluation of gendered patterns in expressions of patronage and parentage. Marital status and social class become more important that the gendered moral and legal strictures of an apparently patriarchal society in terms of early modern women's ability to take part in a wide range of activities normally not considered possible for their sex. Toledo's widows challenge public/private spheres models by giving evidence of the public nature of private lives and the private ends of public acts. Examining widows' lives provides insight into the complex mechanisms lying behind the formulation of gender boundaries in the early modern world and the pragmatic politics of everyday life at the nexus of family and community.

This dissertation argues that the origins of civil defense are to be found in pre-World War II Britain and that a driving force of this early civil defense scheme was fear of poison gas. Later iterations of civil defense, such as the Cold War system in America, built on already existing regimes that had proven their worth during WWII. This dissertation demonstrates not only that WWII civil defense served as a blueprint for later civil defense schemes, but also that poison gas anxiety served as a particular tool for the implementation and success of civil defense. The dissertation is organized thematically, exploring the role of civilians and volunteers in the civil defense scheme, as well as demonstrating the vital importance of physical manifestations of civil defense, such as gas masks and air raid shelters, in ensuring the success of the scheme. By the start of World War II, many civilians had already been training in civil defense procedures for several years, learning how to put out fires, recognize bombs, warn against gas, decontaminate buildings, rescue survivors, and perform first aid. The British government had come to the conclusion, long before the threat became realized, that the civilian population was a likely target for air attacks and that measures were required to protect them. World War I (WWI) saw the first aerial attacks targeted specifically at civilians, suggesting a future where such attacks would occur more frequently and deliberately. Poison gas, used in WWI, seemed a particularly horrifying threat that presented significant problems. Civil defense was born out of this need to protect the civil population from attack by bombs or poison gas. For the next five years of war civil defense worked to maintain British morale and to protect civilian lives. This was the first real scheme of civil defense, instituted by the British government specifically for the protection of its civilian population.

History
Ph.D.
This dissertation investigates the reasons behind combined military and naval offensive expeditions that Great Britain conducted outside of Europe during the Great War. It argues that they were not unnecessary adjuncts to the war in Europe, but they fulfilled an important strategic purpose by protecting British trade where it was most vulnerable. Trade was not a luxury for the British; it was essential for maintaining the island nation's way of life, a vital interest and a matter of national survival. Great Britain required freedom of the seas in order to maintain its global trade. A general war in Europe threatened Great Britain's economic independence with the potential of losing its continental trading partners. The German High Seas Fleet constituted a serious threat that also placed the British coast at grave risk forcing the Royal Navy to concentrate in home waters. This dissertation argues that the several combined military and naval operations against overseas territories constituted parts of an overarching strategy designed to facilitate the Royal Navy's gaining command of the seas. Using documents from the Cabinet, the Foreign and Colonial Offices, the War Office, and the Admiralty, plus personal correspondence and papers of high-ranking government officials, this dissertation demonstrates that the Offensive Sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defense drafted the campaign plan. Subsequently, the plan received Cabinet approval, and then the Foreign Office, the Admiralty, and the Colonial Office coordinated with allies and colonies to execute the operations necessary to prosecute the campaign. In Mesopotamia, overseas expeditions directed against the Ottoman Empire protected communications with India and British oil concessions in Persia. The combined operations against German territories exterminated the logistics and intelligence hubs that supported Germany's commerce raiders thereby protecting Britain's world-wide trade and its overseas possessions.
Temple University--Theses

On 19 December 1967, France formally imposed a veto on British entry to the European Community. The Labour government of Harold Wilson had applied for membership of the Community in May of that year, but the French, in accordance with the views of their President, Charles de Gaulle, implacably opposed enlargement negotiations. Yet just three and a half years later, in June 1971, accession negotiations between Britain and the Community recorded agreement on the critical issues, thereby removing the major diplomatic obstacles to British membership. Why this turnaround in fortunes occurred, and what contribution the governments of Harold Wilson and Edward Heath made to it, are the questions at the heart of this thesis. In its analysis of these historic events, this thesis provides numerous new findings. It re-interprets British actions in relation to the controversial ‘Soames affair’ of February 1969. It demonstrates the impact of The Hague summit upon the cost of British membership, and shows how this influenced internal debate about the case for joining the Community. Fresh light is shed upon the critical phase of the accession negotiations between January and June 1971, both in regard to Pompidou’s actions and motivations, and the role of the May 1971 Heath-Pompidou summit in the successful outcome. The thesis is based primarily upon British governmental sources held at the National Archives. The private papers of key participants have also been consulted, as well as parliamentary debates, political diaries, memoirs, and newspapers. In addition, the papers for the presidency of Georges Pompidou, deposited at the Archives Nationales, are employed to illuminate French actions at the two pivotal moments of the accession negotiations: the impasse of March 1971; and the Heath-Pompidou summit two months later.

During the communist regime of Enver Hoxha, Albania built nearly 200 000 bunkers as a measure of protection towards an imaginary attack from (un)known enemies of the Popular Socialist Republic. Most of these structures built in concrete are still part of the landscapes almost in every part of the territory. While the most common type is small and identified from the semi spherical shape, particular bunkers have quite large dimensions and specific features related to their function and location. During the last five years, three of the most unique modern fortifications built during socialism for the displacement of the governmental authorities in case of war, were revealed and made accessible to the public. These structures, transformed today in museums, cultural spaces or simply visitable attractions, are the symbol of an auto-referenced reality within Europe, where the paranoia produced an unusual typology of modern age fortifications. These bunkers, planned to withstand twentieth century military attacks, are extraordinary structures in terms of engineering and building features, and at the same time they represent a very valuable heritage related to the history of communism in Albania. This article aims to offer a comprehensive analysis of the fortification of the Albanian territory during the twentieth century as an overall country defence plan, while focusing on the governmental bunkers in order to understand how the ideological differences with the rest of the world created the need for protection and produced an amazing military infrastructure. The discussion on the future of these structures seems to be strongly related to the ability of recognising these modern fortifications on the Mediterranean as cultural heritage.

This article examines the concerns of all national education systems in Europe regarding exchanges of information, ideas and collaborations since the beginning of the configuration of the European Community in the 1960s. The idea of working together member states for a better future for the younger generation was found both in the documents of the Conferences of Heads of State on Education and in the consultations of education experts. This was pointed out by education ministers, such as Edgar Faure or Olivier Guichard, in France, who made strong arguments, demonstrating responsibility for action for future generations. Although the beginning was difficult, in the 1960s the documents referred to the education of the children of migrant workers, the importance of learning modern languages, the recognition of diplomas. In the 1980s, meetings at the level of education ministers highlighted a deepening and strengthening of cooperation to adapt language teaching models, expand the study of European history and European institutions in secondary education increasing access to education for children with special needs, setting up school spaces for language learning, but especially the creation of a European Centre for Education.

The article is devoted to the results of archaeological investigation of barbican – one of the strategic points of fortification in the Belgorod-Dnestrovskyi fortress. In spite of being of Eastern origin, barbican became one of the types of defensive structures in Europe. The typological and chronological periodization of the building of Belgorod’s barbican includes the following stages. It was constructed in the XV century on the territory of the Moldavian Principality all together with the Low Wall, as part of the early period of the history of the fortress. Similar to the other European barbican buildings of the same time in Torun, Krakow, Lvov, it represents the structure of the tower type. The tower is connected with the main room of barbican through the gallery; the entrance was discovered in the course of excavation. The square of the earliest structure of barbican is about 250 m2. The reconstruction of barbican took place in the Ottoman period of the fortress, as part of the bastion system connected with the further development of artillery. The main elements of the first phase of building, such as of the tower and the planning in the trapezoid shape can be seen on gravures of the beginning of the XIX century.

The Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) is an essential component liable to limit the lifetime duration of PWR plants. The assessment of defects in RPV subjected to PTS transients made at an European level generally do not take necessary into account the beneficial effect of load history (warm pre-stress WPS). A 3-year Research & Development program — SMILE — has been started in January 2002 as part of the Fifth Framework of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). The SMILE project (“Structural Margin Improvements in aged-embrittled RPV with Load history Effects”) is one of a “cluster” of Fifth Framework projects in the area of Plant Life Management. It aims to give sufficient elements to demonstrate, to model and to validate the beneficial WPS effect in a RPV integrity assessment. Finally, this project aims to harmonize the different approaches in the European Codes and Standards regarding the inclusion of the WPS effect in a RPV structural integrity assessment. Within the framework of the project, an important experimental work has been conducted including WPS type experiments on CT specimens and also a PTS type transient experiment on a large component. The experimental results on CT specimens confirm the beneficial effect of warm pre-stress, with an effective significant increase of the material resistance regarding the risk of brittle failure. The WPS type experiment on the cylinder has been successfully conducted, with a final brittle failure during the reloading. The present paper describes the aims and objectives of the SMILE project, the main experimental results, and the corresponding analyses based on engineering methods, finite element elastic and elastic-plastic computations, and local approach to fracture.

The Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) is an essential component liable to limit the lifetime duration of PWR plants. The assessment of defects in RPV subjected to PTS transients made at a European level do not necessarily take into account the beneficial effect of load history (warm pre-stress WPS) on the resistance of RPV material regarding the risk of brittle failure. A 4-year European Research & Development program — SMILE — was successfully conducted between 2002 and 2005 as part of the 5th Framework of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). The objective of the SMILE project (‘Structural Margin Improvements in aged-embrittled RPV with Load history Effects’) was to provide sufficient evidence in order to demonstrate, to model and to validate the beneficial WPS effect in a RPV integrity assessment. Numerous experimental, analytical and numerical results have been obtained which confirm the beneficial effect of warm pre-stress on RPV steels, with an effective significant increase of the material resistance regarding the risk of brittle failure. In addition to SMILE, a new project dealing with WPS — NESC VII — has been launched in 2008 (linking with the European Network of Excellence NULIFE) with the participation of numerous international organizations (R&D, Utilities and Manufacturers). Based on experimental, analytical and numerical tasks, the project is focused on topics generally not covered by past experience on WPS: biaxiality of loading on large-scale specimens, effect of irradiation, applicability to intergranular fracture, modeling (including analytical and numerical models) … Among these tasks, some new novel WPS experiments are being conducted on large scale cruciform bend bar specimens in order to study the influence of biaxial loading on WPS effect, using a fully representative RPV steel (18MND5 steel similar to A533B steel). After a synthesis of main WPS results available from previous projects on representative RPV steels, a description of the NESC VII project is presented in this paper together with the corresponding organization, including the present status of the project.

Abstract Early Childhood Education in Brazil is now legitimized by the Federal Constitution (BRASIL, 1988) when the Magna Carta discusses the right of children to education, as well as attentive to the duty of the State and the family to comply with this right. To the Law of Guidelines and Bases (BRASIL, 1996), once again Early Childhood Education gains the spotlight when it is defended as the first stage of Basic Education. The 1990s, with those and new achievements, were demarcated with and by the publication of different documents: advisors, curricular, and legislatures. No rights were won without the need for the movement of several groups of society (TELES, 2018). However, one of the most evident movements was that of scholars and researchers in the area of Early Childhood Education who defended/advocated the break with educational care practices and preparation for elementary school, and who discussed the historical dichotomy between daycare centers and kindergartens. With the defense of the dissociability of education and care, it began to understand that Early Childhood Education is a place of care and education and that it aimed/aims at the integral development of children from zero to five years and 11 months, complementing the action of the family and the community (LDB, 1996), being also a place between children's knowledge and knowledge historically constructed by humanity. In this wake, when proposing such a breakup, questions were raised about the ways of organizing curricula for Early Childhood Education, based on a curriculum that holds as centrality the children, their social markers, and their multiple ways of living childhood. These curricula also set the scene for play, social interactions, and languages as axes that structure pedagogical proposals in Early Childhood Education (BRASIL, 2009). To achieve their objectives, the pedagogical proposals of early childhood education institutions must provide conditions for collective work and the organization of materials, spaces, and times In line with the narratives put here, the materialities, which were and are in circulation in the educational units (PERES and SILVA, 2011) enabled/enabled possibilities of representations (CHARTIER, 1991, 1992) on the history of Early Childhood Education in Brazil, through the struggles of representations throughout history. These materialities are capable of being sources and objects of research, from the defenses of cultural history (BURKE, 1991; PESAVENTO, 2003), who maintain that there is a much wider range of sources and objects, moving from the idea that only large "events" would be research objects. It is defended in this summary, that the possibility of taking school culture as a historical object (JULIA, 2001), allowed to outline the circulation, in educational institutions, of material elements (VIÑAO FRAGO, 2008), expanding the circumscription of which there is a school material culture. By marking curricula, objectives, and specific practices for Early Childhood Education, attention is made to the existence of material culture of/for Early Childhood Education, since the break with the school and the schooling conceptions grant us to delimit the material culture that "echoes" aspects of Early Childhood Education, whether analyzed through architecture, toys, of objects, utensils, or even elements of nature.

Over recent decades Islamic traditions have emerged in new forms in different parts of the Muslim world, interacting differently with secular and neo-liberal patterns of thought and action. In Turkey Fethullah Gülen’s community has been a powerful player in the national debate about the place of Islam in individual and collective life. Through emphasis on the im- portance of ‘secular education’ and a commitment to the defence of both democratic princi- ples and international human rights, Gülen has diffused a new and appealing version of how a ‘good Muslim’ should act in contemporary society. In particular he has defended the role of Islam in the formation of individuals as ethically-responsible moral subjects, a project that overlaps significantly with the ‘secular’ one of forming responsible citizens. Concomitantly, he has shifted the Sufi emphasis on self-discipline/self-denial towards an active, socially- oriented service of others – a form of religious effort that implies a strongly ‘secular’ faith in the human ability to make this world better. This paper looks at the lives of some members of the community to show how this pattern of conduct has affected them. They say that teaching and learning ‘secular’ scientific subjects, combined with total dedication to the project of the movement, constitute, for them, ways to accomplish Islamic deeds and come closer to God. This leads to a consideration of how such a rethinking of Islamic activism has influenced po- litical and sociological transition in Turkey, and a discussion of the potential contribution of the movement towards the development of a more human society in contemporary Europe. From the 1920s onwards, in the context offered by the decline and collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Islamic thinkers, associations and social movements have proliferated their efforts in order to suggest ways to live a good “Muslim life” under newly emerging conditions. Prior to this period, different generations of Muslim Reformers had already argued the compat- ibility of Islam with reason and “modernity”, claiming for the need to renew Islamic tradition recurring to ijtihad. Yet until the end of the XIX century, traditional educational systems, public forms of Islam and models of government had not been dismissed. Only with the dismantlement of the Empire and the constitution of national governments in its different regions, Islamic intellectuals had to face the problem of arranging new patterns of action for Muslim people. With the establishment of multiple nation-states in the so-called Middle East, Islamic intel- lectuals had to cope with secular conceptions about the subject and its place and space for action in society. They had to come to terms with the definitive affirmation of secularism and the consequent process of reconfiguration of local sensibilities, forms of social organisation, and modes of action. As a consequence of these processes, Islamic thinkers started to place emphasis over believers’ individual choice and responsibility both in maintaining an Islamic conduct daily and in realising the values of Islamic society. While under the Ottoman rule to be part of the Islamic ummah was considered an implicit consequence of being a subject of the empire. Not many scientific works have looked at contemporary forms of Islam from this perspective. Usually Islamic instances are considered the outcome of an enduring and unchanging tradition, which try to reproduce itself in opposition to outer-imposed secular practices. Rarely present-day forms of Islamic reasoning and practice have been considered as the result of a process of adjustment to new styles of governance under the modern state. Instead, I argue that new Islamic patterns of action depend on a history of practical and conceptual revision they undertake under different and locally specific versions of secularism. From this perspective I will deal with the specific case of Fethullah Gülen, the head of one of the most famous and influent “renewalist” Islamic movements of contemporary Turkey. From the 1980s this Islamic leader has been able to weave a powerful network of invisible social ties from which he gets both economic and cultural capital. Yet what interests me most in this paper, is that with his open-minded and moderate arguments, Gülen has inspired many people in Turkey to live Islam in a new way. Recurring to ijtihad and drawing from secular epistemology specific ideas about moral agency, he has proposed to a wide public a very at- tractive path for being “good Muslims” in their daily conduct. After an introductive explanation of the movement’s project and of the ideas on which it is based, my aim will be to focus on such a pattern of action. Particular attention will be dedi- cated to Gülen’s conception of a “good Muslim” as a morally-guided agent, because such a conception reveals underneath secular ideas on both responsibility and moral agency. These considerations will constitute the basis from which we can look at the transformation of Islam – and more generally of “the religion” – in the contemporary world. Then a part will be dedicated to defining the specificity of Gülen’s proposal, which will be compared with that of other Islamic revivalist movements in other contexts. Some common point between them will merge from this comparison. Both indeed use the concept of respon- sibility in order to push subjects to actively engage in reviving Islam. Yet, on the other hand, I will show how Gülen’s followers distinguish themselves by the fact their commitment pos- sesses a socially-oriented and reformist character. Finally I will consider the proximity of Gülen’s conceptualisation of moral agency with that the modern state has organised around the idea of “civic virtues”. I argue Gülen’s recall for taking responsibility of social moral decline is a way of charging his followers with a similar burden the modern state has charged its citizens. Thus I suggest the Islamic leader’s pro- posal can be seen as the tentative of supporting the modernity project by defining a new and specific space to Islam and religion into it. This proposal opens the possibility of new and interesting forms of interconnection between secular ideas of modernity and the so-called “Islamic” ones. At the same time I think it sheds a new light over contemporary “renewalist” movements, which can be considered a concrete proposal about how to realise, in a different background, modern forms of governance by reconsidering their moral basis.

The Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) is an essential component liable to limit the lifetime duration of PWR plants. The assessment of defects in RPV subjected to PTS transients made at an European level generally not always account the beneficial effect of load history (warm pre-stress WPS) on vessel resistance regarding the risk of brittle failure. A 3-year Research & Development program — SMILE — has been started in January 2002 as part of the 5th Framework Program of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). The SMILE project — Structural Margin Improvements in aged embrittled RPV with Load history Effect — is one of a cluster of 5th framework projects in the area of Plant Life Management. It aims to give sufficient elements to demonstrate, to model and to validate the beneficial WPS effect in a RPV assessment. Within the framework of the project, an important experimental work has been conducted including WPS type experiments on CT specimens and one PTS type transient experiment on a large component. The WPS type experiment on the cylinder has been successfully conducted by MPA Stuttgart with a final brittle failure during the reloading. The present paper shortly describes the experiment and presents the corresponding analyses based on engineering methods, finite element elastic-plastic computations, and local approach to fracture. The results are in good agreement with the experimental observations. Very significant margins are underlined, with an effective important increase of the material resistance regarding the risk of brittle failure.

The article examines the problem of the image formation of Ukraine in the international arena in the historical journalism of Timothy Snyder. The subject of the research is the historical context in the journalistic collection «Ukrainian History, Russian Politics, European Future». It identifies the main considerations of the author on the past of Russian-Ukrainian relations and the need to develop historical consciousness in the fight against Russian manipulation. Methodology: the comparative, historical, system analysis and other methods are used in the process of scientific research. The results of the study were obtained by analysing the author’s journalistic works and by considering the main historical themes raised by Timothy Snyder. Main results: The historical context in Timothy Snyder’s journalism is often focused on the Holodomor and the events of World War II. After all, these events are connected with the beginning of the image formation of the Ukrainian people as supporters of Nazism by the Russian authorities and the devaluation of the Ukrainians’ contribution to the establishment of peace during the Second World War. It is determined that the non-reflective attitude to history, the inability to draw parallels between the events of the past and the future leads to an ineffective response to manipulation and propaganda, which can threaten world peace. Conclusions: the realization that Russian aggression against Ukraine has its own history is a necessary aspect in the elucidation of this issue. The Eurasian Union and cooperation with the European far-right are Russian propaganda tools that discredit the Ukrainian state in the world community. Publicist Timothy Snyder points out that Europe’s future interconnects with the past, so he emphasizes the need to study and rethink history, which today has become the object of propaganda and manipulation. Significance: The results of our study will help journalists who study the historical aspect of journalistic materials and research foreign materials on Ukrainian issues. In addition, our research is necessary for Ukraine, because Russia’s aggression continues, as well as the aggressor’s propaganda, which is based on the distortion and falsification of historical events.

Background Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death worldwide.(1) It is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia (12,741 cases diagnosed in 2018) and the leading cause of cancer death.(2) The number of years of potential life lost to lung cancer in Australia is estimated to be 58,450, similar to that of colorectal and breast cancer combined.(3) While tobacco control strategies are most effective for disease prevention in the general population, early detection via low dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening in high-risk populations is a viable option for detecting asymptomatic disease in current (13%) and former (24%) Australian smokers.(4) The purpose of this Evidence Check review is to identify and analyse existing and emerging evidence for LDCT lung cancer screening in high-risk individuals to guide future program and policy planning. Evidence Check questions This review aimed to address the following questions: 1. What is the evidence for the effectiveness of lung cancer screening for higher-risk individuals? 2. What is the evidence of potential harms from lung cancer screening for higher-risk individuals? 3. What are the main components of recent major lung cancer screening programs or trials? 4. What is the cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screening programs (include studies of cost–utility)? Summary of methods The authors searched the peer-reviewed literature across three databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Embase) for existing systematic reviews and original studies published between 1 January 2009 and 8 August 2019. Fifteen systematic reviews (of which 8 were contemporary) and 64 original publications met the inclusion criteria set across the four questions. Key findings Question 1: What is the evidence for the effectiveness of lung cancer screening for higher-risk individuals? There is sufficient evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of combined (pooled) data from screening trials (of high-risk individuals) to indicate that LDCT examination is clinically effective in reducing lung cancer mortality. In 2011, the landmark National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST, a large-scale randomised controlled trial [RCT] conducted in the US) reported a 20% (95% CI 6.8% – 26.7%; P=0.004) relative reduction in mortality among long-term heavy smokers over three rounds of annual screening. High-risk eligibility criteria was defined as people aged 55–74 years with a smoking history of ≥30 pack-years (years in which a smoker has consumed 20-plus cigarettes each day) and, for former smokers, ≥30 pack-years and have quit within the past 15 years.(5) All-cause mortality was reduced by 6.7% (95% CI, 1.2% – 13.6%; P=0.02). Initial data from the second landmark RCT, the NEderlands-Leuvens Longkanker Screenings ONderzoek (known as the NELSON trial), have found an even greater reduction of 26% (95% CI, 9% – 41%) in lung cancer mortality, with full trial results yet to be published.(6, 7) Pooled analyses, including several smaller-scale European LDCT screening trials insufficiently powered in their own right, collectively demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in lung cancer mortality (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.73–0.91).(8) Despite the reduction in all-cause mortality found in the NLST, pooled analyses of seven trials found no statistically significant difference in all-cause mortality (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.90–1.00).(8) However, cancer-specific mortality is currently the most relevant outcome in cancer screening trials. These seven trials demonstrated a significantly greater proportion of early stage cancers in LDCT groups compared with controls (RR 2.08, 95% CI 1.43–3.03). Thus, when considering results across mortality outcomes and early stage cancers diagnosed, LDCT screening is considered to be clinically effective. Question 2: What is the evidence of potential harms from lung cancer screening for higher-risk individuals? The harms of LDCT lung cancer screening include false positive tests and the consequences of unnecessary invasive follow-up procedures for conditions that are eventually diagnosed as benign. While LDCT screening leads to an increased frequency of invasive procedures, it does not result in greater mortality soon after an invasive procedure (in trial settings when compared with the control arm).(8) Overdiagnosis, exposure to radiation, psychological distress and an impact on quality of life are other known harms. Systematic review evidence indicates the benefits of LDCT screening are likely to outweigh the harms. The potential harms are likely to be reduced as refinements are made to LDCT screening protocols through: i) the application of risk predication models (e.g. the PLCOm2012), which enable a more accurate selection of the high-risk population through the use of specific criteria (beyond age and smoking history); ii) the use of nodule management algorithms (e.g. Lung-RADS, PanCan), which assist in the diagnostic evaluation of screen-detected nodules and cancers (e.g. more precise volumetric assessment of nodules); and, iii) more judicious selection of patients for invasive procedures. Recent evidence suggests a positive LDCT result may transiently increase psychological distress but does not have long-term adverse effects on psychological distress or health-related quality of life (HRQoL). With regards to smoking cessation, there is no evidence to suggest screening participation invokes a false sense of assurance in smokers, nor a reduction in motivation to quit. The NELSON and Danish trials found no difference in smoking cessation rates between LDCT screening and control groups. Higher net cessation rates, compared with general population, suggest those who participate in screening trials may already be motivated to quit. Question 3: What are the main components of recent major lung cancer screening programs or trials? There are no systematic reviews that capture the main components of recent major lung cancer screening trials and programs. We extracted evidence from original studies and clinical guidance documents and organised this into key groups to form a concise set of components for potential implementation of a national lung cancer screening program in Australia: 1. Identifying the high-risk population: recruitment, eligibility, selection and referral 2. Educating the public, people at high risk and healthcare providers; this includes creating awareness of lung cancer, the benefits and harms of LDCT screening, and shared decision-making 3. Components necessary for health services to deliver a screening program: a. Planning phase: e.g. human resources to coordinate the program, electronic data systems that integrate medical records information and link to an established national registry b. Implementation phase: e.g. human and technological resources required to conduct LDCT examinations, interpretation of reports and communication of results to participants c. Monitoring and evaluation phase: e.g. monitoring outcomes across patients, radiological reporting, compliance with established standards and a quality assurance program 4. Data reporting and research, e.g. audit and feedback to multidisciplinary teams, reporting outcomes to enhance international research into LDCT screening 5. Incorporation of smoking cessation interventions, e.g. specific programs designed for LDCT screening or referral to existing community or hospital-based services that deliver cessation interventions. Most original studies are single-institution evaluations that contain descriptive data about the processes required to establish and implement a high-risk population-based screening program. Across all studies there is a consistent message as to the challenges and complexities of establishing LDCT screening programs to attract people at high risk who will receive the greatest benefits from participation. With regards to smoking cessation, evidence from one systematic review indicates the optimal strategy for incorporating smoking cessation interventions into a LDCT screening program is unclear. There is widespread agreement that LDCT screening attendance presents a ‘teachable moment’ for cessation advice, especially among those people who receive a positive scan result. Smoking cessation is an area of significant research investment; for instance, eight US-based clinical trials are now underway that aim to address how best to design and deliver cessation programs within large-scale LDCT screening programs.(9) Question 4: What is the cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screening programs (include studies of cost–utility)? Assessing the value or cost-effectiveness of LDCT screening involves a complex interplay of factors including data on effectiveness and costs, and institutional context. A key input is data about the effectiveness of potential and current screening programs with respect to case detection, and the likely outcomes of treating those cases sooner (in the presence of LDCT screening) as opposed to later (in the absence of LDCT screening). Evidence about the cost-effectiveness of LDCT screening programs has been summarised in two systematic reviews. We identified a further 13 studies—five modelling studies, one discrete choice experiment and seven articles—that used a variety of methods to assess cost-effectiveness. Three modelling studies indicated LDCT screening was cost-effective in the settings of the US and Europe. Two studies—one from Australia and one from New Zealand—reported LDCT screening would not be cost-effective using NLST-like protocols. We anticipate that, following the full publication of the NELSON trial, cost-effectiveness studies will likely be updated with new data that reduce uncertainty about factors that influence modelling outcomes, including the findings of indeterminate nodules. Gaps in the evidence There is a large and accessible body of evidence as to the effectiveness (Q1) and harms (Q2) of LDCT screening for lung cancer. Nevertheless, there are significant gaps in the evidence about the program components that are required to implement an effective LDCT screening program (Q3). Questions about LDCT screening acceptability and feasibility were not explicitly included in the scope. However, as the evidence is based primarily on US programs and UK pilot studies, the relevance to the local setting requires careful consideration. The Queensland Lung Cancer Screening Study provides feasibility data about clinical aspects of LDCT screening but little about program design. The International Lung Screening Trial is still in the recruitment phase and findings are not yet available for inclusion in this Evidence Check. The Australian Population Based Screening Framework was developed to “inform decision-makers on the key issues to be considered when assessing potential screening programs in Australia”.(10) As the Framework is specific to population-based, rather than high-risk, screening programs, there is a lack of clarity about transferability of criteria. However, the Framework criteria do stipulate that a screening program must be acceptable to “important subgroups such as target participants who are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from disadvantaged groups and people with a disability”.(10) An extensive search of the literature highlighted that there is very little information about the acceptability of LDCT screening to these population groups in Australia. Yet they are part of the high-risk population.(10) There are also considerable gaps in the evidence about the cost-effectiveness of LDCT screening in different settings, including Australia. The evidence base in this area is rapidly evolving and is likely to include new data from the NELSON trial and incorporate data about the costs of targeted- and immuno-therapies as these treatments become more widely available in Australia.

We consider it criminal and strongly condemn the violation of the territorial integrity and borders of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. We also consider inadmissible the statements of the leadership of the Russian Federation regarding our state, interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine by denying its civilizational subjectivity and demanding the abandonment of its own path of development. With great gratitude and confidence in the victory, we turn to the defenders of Ukraine: we are together, we are convinced of the strength and steadfastness of those who defend Democracy, Freedom, and Human Values! Resistance is not just military resistance. The opposition of every citizen is not to succumb to provocations and panic, to prevent escalation of tensions, to refute fakes, to maintain clarity of thinking. A patriot is someone who invests in the development of the country and preserves its defense capabilities in a way accessible to him. For representatives of pedagogical and psychological sciences — is to maintain the national identity and unity of the nation at the level of consciousness of every citizen, territorial community, society. This is the strengthening of the subjectivity of every citizen through his awareness of Ukrainian history from the times of Kyivan Rus, Ukrainian mentality of freedom from the Cossack era, the spirit of Ukrainian democracy from the Constitution of Philip Orlyk, invincibility of the Ukrainian army from the victories of Peter Konashevych-Sahaidachnyi and Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, exercise of self-awareness by Hryhorii Skovoroda and Taras Shevchenko. Scientists of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, as always, are ready for a dialogue with anyone who finds himself in difficult life circumstances, in situations of confusion or uncertainty, who needs advice or psychological help. We all have hard work ahead of us every day. But our goal is common and high — to preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. To this end, we have worked for Ukraine′s independence, we have also worked for the development of our state for the last 30 years, for this, we are mobilizing for further struggle! We will win! Glory to Ukraine!