The Essence of Physical and Chemical Methods of Analysis

This article is devoted to physicochemical methods (PhCMA) analysis, based on the dependence of the physical properties of a substance on its nature, and the analytical signal is the value of the physical property, functionally related to the concentration or mass of the determined component

Seeing like the international community: how peacebuilding failed (and survived) in Tajikistan

Post-print version. 18 month embargo by the publisher. Article will be released April 2010.The international community claims transformative power over post-conflict spaces via the concept of peacebuilding. International actors discursively make space for themselves in settings such as the Central Asian state of Tajikistan which endured a civil war during the 1990s and has only seen an end to widespread political violence in recent years. With the work of James C. Scott, this paper challenges the notion that post-conflict spaces are merely the objects of international intervention. It reveals how, even in cases of apparent stability such as that of Tajikistan, international actors fail to achieve their ostensible goals for that place yet make space for themselves in that place. International peacebuilders may provide essential resources for the re-emergence of local forms of order yet these symbolic and material resources are inevitably re-interpreted and re-appropriated by local actors to serve purposes which may be the opposite of their aims. However, despite this ‘failure’ of peacebuilding it nevertheless survives as a discursive construction through highly subjective processes of monitoring and evaluation. So maintained, peacebuilding is a constitutive element of world order where the necessity of intervention for humanitarian, democratic and statebuilding ends goes unchallenged. This raises the question of what or where – in spatial terms – is the locus of international intervention: the local recipients of peacebuilding programmes (who are the ostensible targets) or ‘the International Community’ itself (whose space is re-inscribed as that of an imperfect but necessary regulator of world order)

Patient's site of first access to health system influences length of delay for tuberculosis treatment in Tajikistan

BACKGROUND: Tajikistan has the highest incidence rate of tuberculosis (TB) in Central Asia. Its health system still bears many features from Soviet times and is under-funded. Affordability is a major barrier to health care. Little is known about health care seeking of TB patients in post-Soviet countries and their delay until the start of TB therapy. The low estimated case detection rate in Tajikistan suggests major problems with access to care and consequently long delays are likely. METHODS: The study investigated extent and determinants of patient and health system delays for TB. A questionnaire was administered to a cohort of TB patients in twelve study districts representing a wide range of conditions found in Tajikistan. Common patterns of health care seeking were analysed. Cox proportional hazards models using eight predictor variables, including characteristics of health services delivery, were built to identify determinants of patient and health system delays. RESULTS: Two-hundred-and-four TB patients were interviewed. A common pattern in treatment-seeking was visiting a specialised TB facility at some stage. Typical delays until start of TB therapy were moderate and did not confirm the expectation of long delays. Median patient, health system and total delays to TB treatment were 21.5, 16 and 52 days, respectively. None of the investigated predictors was significantly associated with patient delay. The type of facility, where patients made their first contact with the health system, was the main determinant of health system delay (p > 0.00005). We show for the first time that patients who had fallen ill and first presented to health care in Russia had the longest delays. Those who first presented to peripheral primary care facilities also had relatively long delays. CONCLUSIONS: While overall delays were moderate, further improvement is needed for different subgroups. An international referral system between Russia and Tajikistan to reduce delays of Tajik migrants who develop active TB in Russia is urgently needed and would benefit both countries. Within Tajikistan, diagnostic pathways for patients in the periphery should be shortened. To achieve this, strengthening of sputum smear examination possibly including collection of sputa at peripheral primary care facilities may be needed

Simplification or technological development of processes for obtaining polymer materials

This article is devoted to the technology of polymer production and its continuous improvement in accordance with the state of the art. However, there are basic technological schemes for the production of polymers, and one should know the basic laws of the technological process for the production of various polymers. The main methods for producing polymers are polymerization, polycondensation, and chemical transformations of polymer

Simplification or Technological Development of Processes for Obtaining Polymer Materials

This article is devoted to the technology of polymer production and its continuous improvement in accordance with the state of the art. However, there are basic technological schemes for the production of polymers, and one should know the basic laws of the technological process for the production of various polymers. The main methods for producing polymers are polymerization, polycondensation, and chemical transformations of polymer

Results of the Study of Proliferative Activity (Ki-67) of High-Quality Soft Tissues Sarcomas

The article presents data on certain indicators of proliferative activity (Ki-67) in high-grade soft tissue sarcomas. Analysis of Ki-67 expression showed that in high-grade soft tissue sarcomas, Ki-67 expression in most cases depended on the histological structure of the tumor and the degree of malignancy. The rate of recurrence and metastasis was higher in synovial sarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma compared with angiogenic sarcoma and leiomyosarcoma