Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has regarded both Central Asia and the South Caucasus as being within its sphere of influence. It has also been constantly afraid of “losing them to the West.” The critical moment came in the fall of 1991, when U.S. and NATO military bases were established in Central Asia, American military assistance to Azerbaijan and Georgia was enhanced, ...

BACKGROUND Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common chronic immune-mediated diseases of the human central nervous system and an important cause of non-traumatic neurologic disability among young population in several countries. Recent reports from East Asia, South East Asia and South Asia have proposed a low to moderate prevalence of MS in these countries. METHODS A literature review...

The paper presents the results of using multiplicative indices for species identification polyploid green toads Central Asia. Live adult individuals Bufotes baturae (24 females and 17 males) from territory Tajikistan B. pewzowi (14 24 Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan were studied. animals caught in nature, measured immediately released. belonging studied was established by cytogenetic methods. According ...

Chenopodium quinoa Willd., a high quality grain crop, is resistant to abiotic stresses (drought, cold, and salt) and offers an optimal source of protein. Quinoa represents a symbol of crop genetic diversity across the Andean region. In recent years, this crop has undergone a major expansion outside its countries of origin. The activities carried out within the framework of the International Yea...

The distribution and survival of trees during the last glacial maximum (LGM) has been of interest to paleoecologists, biogeographers, and geneticists. Ecological niche models that associate species occurrence and abundance with climatic variables are widely used to gain ecological and evolutionary insights and to predict species distributions over space and time. The present study deals with th...

Health in Action T he evidence base on organising, delivering, and paying for effective and equitable health services in any resource-constrained setting is very weak [1]. To make health service delivery work in difficult environments, such as Badakhshan province in Afghanistan, the Northern Areas of Pakistan, and Gorno-Badakhshan province in Tajikistan, substantial challenges must be addressed...

BACKGROUND Illness-related costs incurred by patients constitute a severe economic burden for households especially in low-income countries. High household costs of illness lead to impoverishment; they impair affordability and equitable access to health care and consequently hamper tuberculosis (TB) control. So far, no study has investigated patient costs of TB in the former Soviet Union. MET...

The six species of the Epeolus cruciger group from Asia are reviewed. Two new species, asiaticus Astafurova & Proshchalykin, sp. nov. (Mongolia, Russia) and E. gorodkovi Astafurova, (Tajikistan, Afghanistan) described illustrated. alpinus Friese, 1893 is newly recorded Kazakhstan; (Panzer, 1799) Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan; mongolicus 2021 Kyrgyzstan Russia. An identification key f...

While ideologies and elites change, patronage politics remains the preferred strategy of Central Asia’s autocrats. Aspiring presidents-for-life distribute wealth to handpicked appointees who reciprocate by implementing, to varying degrees, executive policy. Shared strategies of rule, however, do not translate into shared state capacity. The trains do not always run on time, and in many places i...