Die ethnopolitische Situation Usbekistans

Usbekistan nimmt in der Staaten- und Nationengliederung im nachsowjetischen Mittelasien in mehrfacher Hinsicht eine zentrale Position ein. Dafür steht seine Bevölkerungsgröße von über 20 Millionen Menschen ebenso wie seine wirtschaftliche Bedeutung und seine geopolitische Lage mit Grenzen zu allen übrigen zentralasiatischen Gliedstaaten der ehemaligen Sowjetunion. Für die Wahrung seiner inneren Stabilität und äußeren Sicherheit ist neben der Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik und der Außenpolitik ein politisches Aktionsfeld von ausschlaggebender Bedeutung: die Ethnopolitik. Im weitesten Sinne werden hier darunter alle Bereiche der Innenpolitik verstanden, die das Zusammenleben der verschiedensten Volksgruppen auf dem Gebiet Usbekistans mitgestalten und beeinflussen. In dem vorliegenden Bericht wird die ethnopolitische Lage in Usbekistan auf der Grundlage wissenschaftlicher Publikationen, Beobachtungen und Umfragen in den Jahren 1992 und 1994 analysiert. Das Ethnogramm Usbekistans bietet in Hinsicht auf die Konsolidierung des unabhängigen Nationalstaats ein klareres Bild als in den meisten Nachbarstaaten in der GUS. Untersucht werden auch die interethnischen Beziehungen auf der Ebene der Familie und Verwandtschaft und bei der Kommunikation mit Freunden und Nachbarn. Dabei zeigen sich separate Netzwerke einheimisch-islamischer Völker und europäisch-slawisch-christlicher Völker. Die Rolle der Religion in der ethnischen Selbstwahrnehmung hat im muslimischen Bevölkerungsanteil zugenommen. Die Umfragen haben ein beträchtliches Migrationspotential ergeben, wobei die Russen mehr als die Usbeken auswandern. Neue Sprachengesetze und sprachenpolitische Regelungen in den zentralasiatischen und anderen GUS-Staaten haben das Verhältnis zwischen den Titularnationen und russischsprachigen Minderheiten nachhaltig beeinflußt. Als Fazit wird eine relative ethnopolitische Stabilität festgestellt, die aber nicht vor Einbrüchen und vor einer raschen Politisierung von Ethnizität völlig gesichert ist. (psz

Independent Information of Nonspecific Biomarkers in Exhaled Breath Condensate

Background: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) has been used for diagnosing and monitoring respiratory disorders. For clinical purposes the assessment of easy-to-obtain nonspecific markers seems particularly interesting. Objectives: As these measures are related to each other, our objective was to extract the independent information in global EBC markers across a range of respiratory disorders. Methods: EBC was collected from patients with asthma (n = 18), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n = 17), and cystic fibrosis (n = 46), as well as from lung transplant (LTX) recipients (n = 14) and healthy controls (n = 26). Samples were assessed for electrical conductivity, ammonia, pH, and nitrite/nitrate. pH was measured after both deaeration with argon and CO(2) standardization. Additionally, the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FE(NO)) was assessed. Factor analysis was applied to identify major factors concerning these measures. Results: Three independent factors were detected; the first comprised conductivity, ammonia, and pH, especially when standardized using CO(2), the second nitrite/nitrate, and the third FE(NO). Conductivity and ammonia were highly correlated (r = 0.968; p < 0.001). FE(NO) provided independent information mainly in asthma. The nonspecific EBC markers showed considerable overlap between patient groups and healthy subjects. However, conductivity, ammonia, pH standardized for CO(2) and nitrite/nitrate were increased in LTX recipients compared to healthy controls (p < 0.05 each). Conclusions: A panel of nonspecific easy-to-obtain exhaled breath markers could be reduced to 3 independent factors. The information content of conductivity, ammonia, and pH after CO(2) equilibration appeared to be similar, while FE(NO) was independent. The increased levels of these biomarkers in LTX might indicate a potential for their use in these patients. Copyright (C) 2010 S. Karger AG, Base

Reference values of impulse oscillometric lung function indices in adults of advanced age.

Impulse oscillometry (IOS) is a non-demanding lung function test. Its diagnostic use may be particularly useful in patients of advanced age with physical or mental limitations unable to perform spirometry. Only few reference equations are available for Caucasians, none of them covering the old age. Here, we provide reference equations up to advanced age and compare them with currently available equations. IOS was performed in a population-based sample of 1990 subjects, aged 45-91 years, from KORA cohorts (Augsburg, Germany). From those, 397 never-smoking, lung healthy subjects with normal spirometry were identified and sex-specific quantile regression models with age, height and body weight as predictors for respiratory system impedance, resistance, reactance, and other parameters of IOS applied. Women (n = 243) showed higher resistance values than men (n = 154), while reactance at low frequencies (up to 20 Hz) was lower (p<0.05). A significant age dependency was observed for the difference between resistance values at 5 Hz and 20 Hz (R5-R20), the integrated area of low-frequency reactance (AX), and resonant frequency (Fres) in both sexes whereas reactance at 5 Hz (X5) was age dependent only in females. In the healthy subjects (n = 397), mean differences between observed values and predictions for resistance (5 Hz and 20 Hz) and reactance (5 Hz) ranged between -1% and 5% when using the present model. In contrast, differences based on the currently applied equations (Vogel & Smidt 1994) ranged between -34% and 76%. Regarding our equations the indices were beyond the limits of normal in 8.1% to 18.6% of the entire KORA cohort (n = 1990), and in 0.7% to 9.4% with the currently applied equations. Our study provides up-to-date reference equations for IOS in Caucasians aged 45 to 85 years. We suggest the use of the present equations particularly in advanced age in order to detect airway dysfunction

Two-level system with noise: Blue's function approach

By using the random matrix approach and generalized Blue's function representation we solve analytically the model of an effective two-level system coupled to a noise reservoir. We show that calculated spectral properties of the system are in agreement with the numerically simulated results. We outline possible applications of the model in the field of condensed phase reactions.Comment: 17 pages LaTeX, 5 EPS figures include

Гидроимпульсный силовой механизм сваебойной машины в условиях обустройства месторождений

AbstractObjectivesThis study sought to evaluate whether objective assessment of the myocardial functional reserve, using strain rate imaging (SRI), allows accurate detection of viable myocardium.BackgroundStrain rate imaging is a new echocardiographic modality that allows quantitative assessment of segmental myocardial contractility.MethodsIn 37 patients (age 58 ± 9 years) with ischemic left ventricular dysfunction, myocardial viability was assessed using low-dose (10 μg/kg body weight per min) two-dimensional dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE), tissue Doppler imaging, SRI and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). The peak systolic tissue Doppler velocity and peak systolic myocardial strain rate were determined at baseline and during low-dose dobutamine stress from the apical views.ResultsA total of 192 segments with dyssynergy at rest were classified by 18FDG PET as viable in 94 and nonviable in 98. An increase of peak systolic strain rate from rest to dobutamine stimulation by more than −0.23 1/s allowed accurate discrimination of viable from nonviable myocardium, as determined by 18FDG PET with a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 84%. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed an area under the curve for prediction of nonviable myocardium, as determined by 18FDG PET using SRI, of 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.88 to 0.90), whereas the area under the ROC curve using tissue Doppler imaging was 0.63 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.65).ConclusionsThe increase in the peak systolic strain rate during low-dose dobutamine stimulation allows accurate discrimination between different myocardial viability states. Strain rate imaging is superior to two-dimensional DSE and tissue Doppler imaging for the assessment of myocardial viability

Classification of grasslands and other open vegetation types in the Palaearctic – Introduction to the Special Collection

With this editorial, we introduce the Special Collection “Classification of grasslands and other open vegetation types in the Palaearctic”. In searching the Web of Science for classification papers on Palaearctic grasslands, we found 207 studies from 1972–2021, including 106 typical classification works. These studies originated mainly from Europe, with only few from Asia and only one from Northern Africa. While Europe in the 20th century already had a strong tradition in regional classification studies, the launch of a common plot database (European Vegetation Archive, EVA) and a continental syntaxonomic reference list (EuroVegChecklist) have spurred the developments there in recent years. We then introduce the seven articles of the Special Collection. Four of them present regional studies of certain vegetation types, namely spring vegetation (Montio-Cardaminetea) in Grisons, Switzerland, dry grasslands (Festuco-Brometea) of the inneralpine valleys of Austria, montane to subalpine tall-herb vegetation (Mulgedio-Aconitetea) in the Sudetes Mts., Poland, and steppe depressions (Festuco-Brometea and Molinio-Arrhentatheretea) in Southern Ukraine. A new synthesis of the grassland vegetation of Navarre in Spain (all classes, focus on Festuco-Brometea), started with an unsupervised classification and translated it into a hierarchical expert system, while another study provided the first synthesis of the tall-herb vegetation (mainly Ulopteretea prangae) of Tajikistan. Finally, a study based on the GrassPlot database compared fine-grain beta-diversities across open vegetation types of the Palaearctic. Abbreviations: EDGG = Eurasian Dry Grassland Group, EVA = European Vegetation Archive, IAVS = International Association for Vegetation Science, WoS = Web of Science