scholarly journals Surveillance of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in Europe, 1999

2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 93-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Infuso ◽  
D Antoine ◽  
P Barboza ◽  
D Falzon ◽  

With the exception of Israel, representative data from Western and Central Europe indicate consistently low levels of resistance to isoniazid (0-9,3%) or rifampicin (0-2,1%) and of multidrug resistance (0-2,1%) among new tuberculosis (TB) cases. Resistance is more frequent among previously treated cases, but comparisons of data should be done cautiously, as criteria for inclusion in TB notifications may vary across countries. In Western Europe, drug resistance is more frequent among cases of foreign origin, a group with high TB incidence. In 1999, cases of foreign origin accounted for over 90% of the MDR cases in the West, and for all MDR cases notified in Israel. The majority of foreign born cases notified originated from Africa or Asia. In the East, representative data from the Baltic States show that overall, 15% of TB cases notified in 1999 were MDR, among the highest proportion worldwide and indicating inadequacies in previous treatment programmes. In the other countries of the former Soviet Union, non-representative data show high levels of resistance which, along with data from the Baltic states and results of surveys, are very alarming.

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göran Larsson ◽  
Egdūnas Račius

AbstractWhile the ever more strongly felt presence of Muslims in western Europe has already stimulated numerous scholars of various social sciences to embark upon research on issues related to that presence, it is apparent that just a few studies and introductory text books have so far dealt with the evolution of Muslim communities in other parts of Europe, especially in countries of central, eastern, and northern Europe. Without appreciation of and comprehensive research into the more than six-hundred-year-long Muslim presence in the eastern Baltic rim the picture of the development of Islam and Muslim-Christian relations in Europe remains incomplete and even distorted. Therefore, this article argues for the necessity of approaching the history of Islam and Muslims in Europe from a different and ultimately more encompassing angle by including the minorities of Muslim cultural background that reside in the countries of the European part of the former Soviet Union—the Baltic states and Belarus. Besides arguing that it is necessary to reconsider and expand the research field in order to develop more profound studies of Islam and Muslims in Europe, the article also outlines suggestions as to why the Muslim history in the eastern Baltic rim has been generally excluded from the history of Islam in Europe.


Author(s):  
Katherine Graney

This chapter examines the process of EU expansion into the former Soviet Union since 1989, identifying the different criteria that have been used to judge candidates for EU membership. The Central European and Baltic states successfully made arguments about their “intrinsic Europeanness” and “belonging” to Europe and the EU, while the Balkan states have had a harder time proving their suitability for Europe. Unlike the Baltic states, the other ex-Soviet republics, like Ukraine and Georgia, have had a harder time convincing the EU of their fitness for membership, that is, their “intrinsic Europeanness,” and have had to settle for being made “Eastern Partners” of the EU and signers of Association Agreements with the EU. Russia has sought a form of partnership with the EU, while rejecting any idea of conditionality. Finally, the EU shows little concern for the ex-Soviet states of Central Asia, not seeing them as fundamentally European in any way.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (SPS5) ◽  
pp. 149-158
Author(s):  
Nikolai G. Bochkarev

AbstractDuring the immediate post-Soviet period, the main infrastructure of astronomy over the territory of the former Soviet Union (FSU) was saved, in spite of dramatic decreases in financial support. Overall the situation for FSU astronomy is now stable. In Latvia, the 32-m radio-dish is in working order. This allows it to participate in VLBI programmes. In Russia, all three 32-metre radio dishes of the QUASAR VLBI system are operational, as well as the 2-m telescope with a high-resolution spectrograph (up to resolution R≃ 500 000) and the horizontal solar telescope (R= 320 000) of the Russian-Ukrainian Observatory on Peak Terskol (Caucasus, altitude 3100 m). However the situation with the observatory itself is worrying, because of the regional authorities' attempt to privatize its infrastructure.The process of equipping a number of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (including Russian) observatories with CCD-cameras is in progress. To solve staff problems, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have begun to prepare national specialists in astronomy, and the Baltic States, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine continue to prepare astronomers.Teaching of astronomy at schools is obligatory only in the Ukraine and partially in the Baltic states. To maintain a “common astronomical area”, the Eurasian Astronomical Society (EAAS) continues its programme of reduced-price subscription to Russian-language astronomical journals and magazines in the territory of FSU, the organization of international conferences and Olympiads for school students, and lectures for school teachers and planetarium lecturers, etc.Telescopes in Russia and other CIS territories permit to monitor an object more then 12 hours and can be used in global monitoring programmes. The Central Asian sites have some of the very best astro-climates in the world. They are similar to (or a little better than) the well known Chilean sites (median seeing 0.7′′, very high fraction of clear nights, no light pollution and no high wind). It is imperative that these sites be protected and intensively used by the international astronomical community.


1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-364
Author(s):  
Victor A. Kremenyuk

AbstractDespite a heritage of suspicion toward negotiation, the new states of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) have negotiated among themselves (and in Russia's case, within itself) to resolve the issues of the Soviet Union's dissolution and to create a new structure of relations and institutions for the future. Special situations have occurred in relations with the Baltic states, which are not members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Chechnya, which is a restive part of Russia. Past and future issues need to be distinguished, a new structure for the CIS worked out, and new relations established with the outside world.


Elements ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
William Sadd

This article examines the forces and circumstances of the early 1940s during which a unique climate was created for the Sovietization of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It also considers the legal aspects of the case, namely the integration of these three independent, sovereign states into the Soviet Union which violated nearly all measures of international law. This, however, was met with little resistance from the international community, primarily because of the rise of Nazi Germany, the general chaos in the early years of World War II, and the shifting alliances along the Eastern Front. With many former Soviet republics in the spotlight today struggling to stabliize as independent states, and with the Russian Federation still occupying several territories of the former Soviet Union under the auspices of peacekeeping missions, the relatively settled case of the Baltic states serves as example to analyze processes of Sovietization, and should aid in fostering greater interest in the various ways by which desovietization is occurring in the contemporary world.


Author(s):  
Ilkhomjon M. Saidov ◽  

The article is devoted to the participation of natives of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in the Baltic operation of 1944. The author states that Soviet historiography did not sufficiently address the problem of participation of individual peoples of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War, and therefore their feat remained undervalued for a long time. More specifically, according to the author, 40–42% of the working age population of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Such figure was typical only for a limited number of countries participating in the anti-fascist coalition. Analyzing the participation of Soviet Uzbekistan citizens in the battles for the Baltic States, the author shows that the 51st and 71st guards rifle divisions, which included many natives of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, were particularly distinguished. Their heroic deeds were noted by the soviet leadership – a number of Uzbek guards were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In addition, Uzbekistanis fought as part of partisan detachments – both in the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, the Western regions of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and Moldova. Many Uzbek partisans were awarded the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War” of I and II degrees.


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