Background: In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries the epidemiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is poorly characterized. The objective of this analysis is to present the prevalence, burden and risk factors associated with COPD in three CIS countries as part of the CORE study (Chronic Obstructive Respiratory Diseases), the rationale and design of which have...

BACKGROUND Main treatable Chronic Respiratory Diseases (CRDs) like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Bronchial Asthma (BA) and Allergic Rhinitis (AR) are underdiagnosed and undertreated worldwide. CORE study was aimed to assess the point prevalence of COPD, BA and AR in the adult population of major cities of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries - Azerbaijan, Kazakhsta...

he development of the Russian federal system has been marked by conflict, co-optation, and consensus. Emerging from the generally unitary Russian republic within a formally federal but largely unitary Soviet Union, post-Soviet Russia began its development as a federal system with little experience and few institutional structures salvageable from the earlier system. The patchwork Soviet-era con...

Despite 30 years of market reforms, the main difference between housing sector in Russia and other post-socialist countries that advanced Western nations lies tenure distribution. In former states, outright homeowners with property mainly built planned economy dominate market. At same time, latter countries, majority households pay rent or take out a mortgage (these types account for three-quar...

A study of children was conducted in 3 Central Asian Republics. Approximately half of the Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates were serotypes included in available vaccine formulations. Approximately 6% of children carried Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). Using pneumococcal and Hib conjugate vaccines may decrease illness in the Central Asian Republics.

BACKGROUND Human brucellosis represents a significant burden to public and veterinary health globally, including the republic of Azerbaijan. The purpose of this study was to examine and describe the spatial and temporal aspects of the epidemiology of human brucellosis in Azerbaijan from 1995 to 2009. METHODS A Geographic information system (GIS) was used to identify potential changes in the s...

HE QUESTION of Australia becoming a republic has sparked intense and often impassioned debate. This debate revolves around whether such change is necessary or important, and extends to what this symbolic change would entail in practice. The role of an Australian President as Head of State is an essential element of such discourse. It is vital that debate over a desirable role for the President ...

Michael A. Reynolds, an FPRI Senior Fellow, is an Associate Professor in Princeton‟s Department of Near Eastern Studies where he teaches courses on modern Middle Eastern and Eurasian history, comparative empire, military and ethnic conflict, and secularism. He is author of Shattering Empires: The Clash and Collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires, 1908-1918 (Cambridge University Press, 2011)...