Properties of phonons – quanta of the crystal lattice vibrations – in graphene have attracted strong attention of the physics and engineering communities. Acoustic phonons are the main heat carriers in graphene near room temperature while optical phonons are used for counting the number of atomic planes in Raman experiments with few-layer graphene. It was shown both theoretically and experiment...

AIMS To measure levels of public support for price increases on beer and spirits in nine former Soviet Union countries and to examine the characteristics influencing such support. METHODS Cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 2010 with 18,000 respondents aged 18+ in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. Descriptive and multivariate log...

CONTEXT Official data on sex ratios at birth suggest a rise in sex-selective abortions in some post-Soviet states following the introduction of ultrasonography. However, questions remain about the validity of official data in these nations as well as whether the high sex ratios at birth are a statistical artifact. METHODS Trends in sex ratios at birth from 1985 to 2009 for 12 post-Soviet stat...

OBJECTIVE Regulation of the pharmaceutical system is a crucial, yet often neglected, component in ensuring access to safe and effective medicines. The aim of this study was to provide an in-depth analysis of the existing pharmaceutical regulation, including recent changes, in the Republic of Moldova. METHODS Data from field work conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) together with a...

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of single scanty or positive sputum smear results and its impact on the surveillance definition of sputum smear-positive tuberculosis (TB). SETTING Moldova, Mongolia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. METHODS A representative sample of laboratories was selected in each country. Data were double-entered and discordances resolved by rechecking the register. RESULTS T...

There is a recognized need to raise evidence on how to adopt human rights-based approaches (HRBAs) to health and to assess their impact. In 2013 and 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe used a set of tools to assess and improve the situation of children's rights in 11 hospitals in Kyrgyzstan, 10 hospitals in Tajikistan, and 21 hospitals in Moldova, by applying a ...

HIV infection in the Republic of Moldova continues to represent a major problem of public health, which is kept under constant surveillance and monitoring. On January 1, 2014 the cumulative number of persons identified with HIV was 8,588 people, representing a prevalence of 166.74 cases per population of 100,000. In 2013, HIV incidence was 17.18 cases per 100,000 population. Cumulative AIDS was...

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a major concern in countries of the former Soviet Union. The reported risk of resistance among tuberculosis (TB) cases in the Republic of Moldova is among the highest in the world. We aimed to produce high-resolution spatial maps of MDR-TB risk and burden in this setting. We analysed national TB surveillance data collected between 2007 and 2010 in Mo...