Ongoing challenges to understanding multidrug and rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis in children versus adults

Previous analyses suggest children with tuberculosis (TB) are no more or no less likely to have multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) than adults. However, the availability of new data, particularly for high MDR/RR-TB burden countries, suggest updates of country-specific estimates are warranted.We used data from population-representative surveys and surveillance collected between 2000 and 2018 to compare the odds ratio (OR) of MDR/RR-TB among children (<15 years) with TB, compared to the odds of MDR/RR-TB among adults (≥15 years) with TB.In most settings (45/55 countries), and globally as a whole, there is no evidence that age is associated with odds of MDR/RR-TB. However, in some settings such as former Soviet Union countries in general, and Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in particular, as well as Peru, MDR/RR-TB is positively associated with age ≥15. Meanwhile, in Western Europe in general, and the UK, Poland, Finland and Luxembourg in particular, MDR/RR-TB is positively associated with age <15. Sixteen countries had sufficient data to compare over time between 2000–2011 and 2012–2018, with evidence for decreases in the OR in children compared to adults in Germany, Kazakhstan and the USA.Our results support findings that in most settings a child with TB is as likely as an adult with TB to have MDR/RR-TB. However, setting-specific heterogeneity requires further investigation. Further, the OR for MDR/RR-TB in children compared to adults is generally either stable or decreasing. There are important gaps in detection, recording and reporting of drug resistance among paediatric TB cases, limiting our understanding of transmission risks and measures needed to combat the global TB epidemic.

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The Carboniferous chronostratigraphic scale: history, status and prospectus

Geological Society London Special Publications ◽

10.1144/sp512-2020-210 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. SP512-2020-210

Author(s):

Spencer G. Lucas ◽

Joerg W. Schneider ◽

Svetlana Nikolaeva ◽

Xiandong Wang

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

Former Soviet Union ◽

Western Europe ◽

Conodont Biostratigraphy ◽

Primary Signal ◽

The Usa

AbstractThe Carboniferous chronostratigraphic scale is a hierarchy of two subsystems, six series and seven stages developed during nearly two centuries of research. Carboniferous stage nomenclature developed with the proposal of numerous regional stages/substages based primarily on palaeobotanical, foraminiferal and ammonoid biostratigraphy, especially in Western Europe, the former Soviet Union, China and the USA. From the regional stages, seven ‘global stages’ have been identified (in ascending order): Tournaisian, Visean, Serpukhovian, Bashkirian, Moscovian, Kasimovian and Gzhelian. Three of the four ratified Carboniferous GSSPs use conodont evolutionary events as the primary signal for correlation – bases of Tournaisian, Bashkirian and base of Asselian. The GSSP of the Visean base has a foraminiferal event as its primary signal. Issues in the development of a Carboniferous chronostratigraphic scale include the rank of chronostratigraphic units, provinciality, conodont biostratigraphy, palaeobotanical biostratigraphy and the development of astrochronology and other methods of chronology and correlation.

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Marshall Aid and British policy on reparations from Germany, 1947–1949

Review of International Studies ◽

10.1017/s0260210500118625 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 361-379 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J Farquharson

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

Western Europe ◽

Financial Assistance ◽

Marshall Plan ◽

British Government ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

The Us ◽

The Usa ◽

The Uk ◽

The Impact

The object of this article is to examine the impact of the Marshall Plan (ERP) on the strategy of reparations from Germany that was pursued by the British government in the postwar era. In order to put this into some kind of context it will first be necessary to provide a brief survey of the mechanism of reparations and then of the rationale behind the system of financial assistance afforded by the USA to Western Europe known as Marshall Aid (its title derived from the US Secretary of State, George Marshall, who pioneered the scheme). The idea of extracting some form of compensation from Germany, to be apportioned among the victors, came to be debated in Whitehall during hostilities, but little attempt was made to coordinate plans among the Allies until the conference at Yalta in February 1945. No consensus could be attained there among the participants (the UK, the USA and the USSR). Stalin lodged a claim for $10 billion of reparations in ten years, which entailed that the Soviet Union would be allocated half of all payments from Germany. The lack of assent from the Western powers led to a new body, the Allied Reparations Commission (ARC), being convened in Moscow, which also failed to reach a conclusion. Reparations were then settled at the Potsdam Conference between the same three powers in July–August 1945.

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Migration and psychiatric adjustment

International Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/s1749367600002046 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 54-55

Author(s):

David Skuse

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

Former Soviet Union ◽

Western Europe ◽

Economic Advantage ◽

Eastern European ◽

The European Union ◽

Health Issues ◽

Personal Safety ◽

Mental Health Issues ◽

The Uk

With the extraordinarily large movements of populations from some of the former Soviet Union states into Western Europe, since their recent membership of the European Union, attention has been focused in recent years on how easy or otherwise it has been for these people to adjust to life in very different economic and social circumstances. It has been estimated that the UK has absorbed up to a million immigrants from Eastern European states since 2004, and an equivalent picture is seen elsewhere; for example, in Switzerland immigrants now comprise nearly a quarter of the population. We consider here the mental health issues faced by those moving to work in other countries, some of whom aim to become citizens, others to gain temporary economic advantage, and yet others to escape persecution and threats to their personal safety in their countries of origin.

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Topological and Morphological Controls on Morphodynamics of Salt Marsh Interiors

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering ◽

10.3390/jmse9030311 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 311

Author(s):

Ben R. Evans ◽

Iris Möller ◽

Tom Spencer

Keyword(s):

Salt Marsh ◽

Salt Marshes ◽

East Coast ◽

Marsh Surface ◽

Coastal Environments ◽

Coastal System ◽

Morphological Segmentation ◽

The Usa ◽

The Uk ◽

Over Time

Salt marshes are important coastal environments and provide multiple benefits to society. They are considered to be declining in extent globally, including on the UK east coast. The dynamics and characteristics of interior parts of salt marsh systems are spatially variable and can fundamentally affect biotic distributions and the way in which the landscape delivers ecosystem services. It is therefore important to understand, and be able to predict, how these landscape configurations may evolve over time and where the greatest dynamism will occur. This study estimates morphodynamic changes in salt marsh areas for a regional domain over a multi-decadal timescale. We demonstrate at a landscape scale that relationships exist between the topology and morphology of a salt marsh and changes in its condition over time. We present an inherently scalable satellite-derived measure of change in marsh platform integrity that allows the monitoring of changes in marsh condition. We then demonstrate that easily derived geospatial and morphometric parameters can be used to determine the probability of marsh degradation. We draw comparisons with previous work conducted on the east coast of the USA, finding differences in marsh responses according to their position within the wider coastal system between the two regions, but relatively consistent in relation to the within-marsh situation. We describe the sub-pixel-scale marsh morphometry using a morphological segmentation algorithm applied to 25 cm-resolution maps of vegetated marsh surface. We also find strong relationships between morphometric indices and change in marsh platform integrity which allow for the inference of past dynamism but also suggest that current morphology may be predictive of future change. We thus provide insight into the factors governing marsh degradation that will assist the anticipation of adverse changes to the attributes and functions of these critical coastal environments and inform ongoing ecogeomorphic modelling developments.

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Does Aid Fragmentation Affects Growth: The Case of Nepal

Global Business Review ◽

10.1177/09721509211011561 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 097215092110115

Author(s):

Kishor Sharma ◽

Badri Bhattarai

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

Soviet Union ◽

Former Soviet Union ◽

Empirical Results ◽

Country Level ◽

Reporting Requirements ◽

The Usa ◽

Strategic Position ◽

The Cold War ◽

India And China

Nepal’s strategic position and open border with India and China have attracted unusually high attention, particularly during the Cold War era, not only from these two large neighbours but also from European countries, the USA and the former Soviet Union. However, despite decades of aid inflows, Nepal remains one of the poorest countries. While debate over aid–growth nexus remains unsettled, our empirical results do suggest that aid fragmentation is detrimental to growth, perhaps due to increased administrative burden to manage a large number of small projects and meet reporting requirements of the donor community. While we find that aid is good for growth, attracting uncoordinated and fragmented aid without the need for assessment can, in fact, do more harm than good. These findings point to the importance of coordinated aid approach not only at the country level but also among the donor community.

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Ectopic pregnancy: exploration of its global research architecture using density-equalising mapping and socioeconomic benchmarks

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018394 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (10) ◽

pp. e018394 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dörthe Brüggmann ◽

Jana Kollascheck ◽

David Quarcoo ◽

Michael H Bendels ◽

Doris Klingelhöfer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ectopic Pregnancy ◽

Gdp Per Capita ◽

Related Research ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

The Usa ◽

Per Capita ◽

The Uk ◽

Research Architecture ◽

Country Specific ◽

Global Research

ObjectiveAbout 2% of all pregnancies are complicated by the implantation of the zygote outside the uterine cavity and termed ectopic pregnancy. Whereas a multitude of guidelines exists and related research is constantly growing, no thorough assessment of the global research architecture has been performed yet. Hence, we aim to assess the associated scientific activities in relation to geographical and chronological developments, existing research networks and socioeconomic parameters.DesignRetrospective, descriptive study.SettingOn the basis of the NewQIS platform, scientometric methods were combined with novel visualising techniques such as density-equalising mapping to assess the scientific output on ectopic pregnancy. Using the Web of Science, we identified all related entries from 1900 to 2012.Results8040 publications were analysed. The USA and the UK were dominating the field in regard to overall research activity (2612 and 723 publications), overall citation numbers and country-specific H-Indices (US: 80, UK: 42). Comparison to economic power of the most productive countries demonstrated that Israel invested more resources in ectopic pregnancy-related research than other nations (853.41 ectopic pregnancy-specific publications per 1000 billlion US$ gross domestic product (GDP)), followed by the UK (269.97). Relation to the GDP per capita index revealed 49.3 ectopic pregnancy-specific publications per US$1000 GDP per capita for the USA in contrast to 17.31 for the UK. Semiqualitative indices such as country-specific citation rates ranked Switzerland first (24.7 citations per ectopic pregnancy-specific publication), followed by the Scandinavian countries Finland and Sweden. Low-income countries did not exhibit significant research activities.ConclusionsThis is the first in-depth analysis of global ectopic pregnancy research since 1900. It offers unique insights into the global scientific landscape. Besides the USA and the UK, Scandinavian countries and Switzerland can also be regarded as leading nations with regard to their relative socioeconomic input.

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Winter War, Anti-Communism and the volunteers from abroad, 1939-1940

Twentieth Century Communism ◽

10.3898/175864321834645832 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (21) ◽

pp. 9-28

Author(s):

Kristo Karvinen

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

Foreign Country ◽

Contemporary Research ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

The World ◽

The Usa ◽

Winter War ◽

The Uk

The 1939 invasion of Finland by the Soviet Union attracted more than just journalists to the frigid north. Thousands of volunteers around the world rallied under the Finnish flag, willing to risk their lives for a foreign country. Over ten thousand arrived before the end of the war, with more on their way, coming from Hungary and Estonia, Canada and the USA, Sweden and the UK. Were they all ardent anticommunists or did they have other motives? This article seeks to answer that question, utilising Finnish and British archives as well as contemporary research into war volunteering. The origins and motives of the volunteers are examined, revealing that their motives ran a wide gamut, including such reasons as anti-communism, linguistic fraternity and spirit of adventure, to name a few.

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Country-Specific Prevalence and Incidence of Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes: A Narrative Literature Review

Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism ◽

10.1159/000510499 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 76 (5) ◽

pp. 289-296 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jane L. Lynch ◽

Margarita Barrientos-Pérez ◽

Mona Hafez ◽

Muhammad Yazid Jalaludin ◽

Margarita Kovarenko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Diagnostic Criteria ◽

Incidence Rates ◽

National Guidelines ◽

Incidence Data ◽

Epidemiology Data ◽

The Usa ◽

The Uk ◽

Country Specific

Background: With increased awareness of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in children and adolescents, an overview of country-specific differences in epidemiology data is needed to develop a global picture of the disease development. Summary: This study examined country-specific prevalence and incidence data of youth-onset T2D published between 2008 and 2019, and searched for national guidelines to expand the understanding of country-specific similarities and differences. Of the 1,190 articles and 17 congress abstracts identified, 58 were included in this review. Our search found the highest reported prevalence rates of youth-onset T2D in China (520 cases/100,000 people) and the USA (212 cases/100,000) and lowest in Denmark (0.6 cases/100,000) and Ireland (1.2 cases/100,000). However, the highest incidence rates were reported in Taiwan (63 cases/100,000) and the UK (33.2 cases/100,000), with the lowest in Fiji (0.43 cases/100,000) and Austria (0.6 cases/100,000). These differences in epidemiology data may be partly explained by variations in the diagnostic criteria used within studies, screening recommendations within national guidelines and race/ethnicity within countries. Key Messages: Our study suggests that published country-specific epidemiology data for youth-onset T2D are varied and scant, and often with reporting inconsistencies. Finding optimal diagnostic criteria and screening strategies for this disease should be of high interest to every country. Trial Registration: Not applicable.

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To the 100th anniversary of Vadim Evgen’evich Garutt (October 12, 1917 – March 28, 2002)

Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS ◽

10.31610/trudyzin/2018.322.3.205 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 322 (3) ◽

pp. 205-214

Author(s):

V.S. Baygusheva ◽

I.V. Foronova ◽

S.V. Semenova

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

Former Soviet Union ◽

Western Europe ◽

100Th Anniversary ◽

Northern Eurasia ◽

Mammuthus Primigenius ◽

Origin And Evolution ◽

Scientific Papers ◽

Academy Of Sciences ◽

Woolly Mammoth

The article contains a biography of the famous Russian paleontologist V.E. Garutt (1917–2002), the oldest research worker of the Zoological institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, who studied the Pleistocene elephants of Northern Eurasia. He published more than 70 scientific papers on the origin and evolution of elephants of mammoth line, the morphology, changeability and features of the development of ancient proboscides. V.E. Garutt suggested two subfamilies Primelephantinae and Loxodontinae. He is the author of several taxa of fossil elephants of the generic, specific and subspecific levels. On his initiative, the skeleton of the Taimyr mammoth was adopted as the neotype of the woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius. He actively defended the independence of the genus Archidiskodon. A number of famous and important for the science paleontological specimens (skulls and skeletons of southern elephants, trogontherine and woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses and elasmotherium) were restored and mounted by V.E. Garutt. They adorn a number of museums and institutes in Russia (St. Petersburg, Stavropol, Pyatigorsk, Azov, Rostov-on-Don) and abroad (Tbilisi, Vilnius, Edersleben, Sangerhausen). In addition, V.E. Garutt was an active popularizer of paleontological science. He collected a scientific archive on the remains of elephants from many regions of the former Soviet Union and some countries of Western Europe, which is now stored in the Azov museum-reserve (Azov). Several grateful pupils began their way in paleontology under the leader ship of V.E. Garutt. And they continue active work nowadays.

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Persistent disparities in antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage and virological suppression across Europe, 2004 to 2015

Eurosurveillance ◽

10.2807/1560-7917.es.2018.23.21.1700382 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (21) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Kamilla Laut ◽

Leah Shepherd ◽

Roxana Radoi ◽

Igor Karpov ◽

Milosz Parczewski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Best Practice ◽

Western Europe ◽

Antiretroviral Treatment ◽

Temporal Trends ◽

Virological Suppression ◽

Hiv Care ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Eurosida Study ◽

Over Time ◽

Country Specific

Background: Direct comparisons between countries in core HIV care parameters are often hampered by differences in data collection. Aim: Within the EuroSIDA study, we compared levels of antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage and virological suppression (HIV RNA < 500 copies/mL) across Europe and explored temporal trends. Methods: In three cross-sectional analyses in 2004–05, 2009–10 and 2014–15, we assessed country-specific percentages of ART coverage and virological suppression among those on ART. Temporal changes were analysed using logistic regression. Results: Overall, the percentage of people on ART increased from 2004–05 (67.8%) to 2014–15 (78.2%), as did the percentage among those on ART who were virologically suppressed (75.2% in 2004–05, 87.7% in 2014–15). However, the rate of improvement over time varied significantly between regions (p < 0.01). In 2014–15, six of 34 countries had both ART coverage and virological suppression of above 90% among those on ART. The pattern varied substantially across clinics within countries, with ART coverage ranging from 61.9% to 97.0% and virological suppression from 32.2% to 100%. Compared with Western Europe (as defined in this study), patients in other regions were less likely to be virologically suppressed in 2014–15, with the lowest odds of suppression (adjusted odds ratio = 0.16; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.13–0.21) in Eastern Europe. Conclusions: Despite overall improvements over a decade, we found persistent disparities in country-specific estimates of ART coverage and virological suppression. Underlying reasons for this variation warrant further analysis to identify a best practice and benchmark HIV care across EuroSIDA.

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