Airborne diseases: Tuberculosis in the Union Army

This paper examines the medical histories of a sample of 25,000 Union Army soldiers and veterans to study the determinants of diagnosis, discharge, and mortality from tuberculosis. We find that water and airborne diseases during the war contributed significantly to the presence of tuberculosis. Height and a higher body mass index (BMI) are also associated with protection against TB but these effects are not always robust. As an upper bound, we estimate that the contribution of modern gains in height and in BMI to the mortality decline of tuberculosis ranges from one-fourth to one-half with the rest explained by the decline in the prevalence of water and airborne diseases, especially diarrhea, dysentery, and typhoid played. The paper finds weaker support for alternative hypotheses that rely on occupational influences and exogenous changes in the virulence of tuberculosis.     

全国大学俄语四级测试改革对大学俄语教学的影响

全国大学俄语四级统考客观上存在着难度偏大的问题,为了深入贯彻《大学俄语教学大纲》的要求,并且逐步降低四级统考的试题难度,从2004年起全国已开始实施大学俄语四级测试的新方案,这必将对我国大学俄语教学产生深远的影响。本文在详尽分析大学俄语四级测试改革内容的基础上,深入剖析了大学俄语四级测试改革能够更加适应《大学俄语教学大纲》的要求,以及极大地降低四级统考测试难度的现实意义,最后提出在相对宽松的大学俄语教学环境中,进行更为扎实、有效的大学俄语教学活动的建议。     

Yukos' Stake in Slovak Transpetrol

SUMMARY

In 2002, Yukos was the ideal investor for Slovak Transpetrol, as Yukos was one of the Russia's largest oil producers, and hence had enough oil to fill Transpetrol's pipelines. Just as important, Yukos was the standard-bearer for Russia's more transparent, well-managed oil sector. Unlike some Russian energy companies, Yukos' conduct never raised suspicions that it was acting as an agent for the Russian State in its former empire. Nevertheless, the situation at the beginning of 2005 is different from 2002. Yukos' forthcoming bankruptcy negates all those advantages because of which Yukos was welcomed as the strategic investor and leaves the Slovak Government with a lot of additional problems. For any decision that the Slovak Government would like to undertake, the agreement of the Russian side is necessary. No swift resolution is likely. Important decisions about the future of the respective oil industry may be made in Moscow rather than in Bratislava.     

新时期加强青藏线汽车部队思想政治工作的几点思考

进入新世纪新阶段以来,对青藏线汽车部队的思想政治工作提出了更高的要求。是适应形势任务的需要,惟有在继承、创新中发展,才能维护部队稳定,发挥服务保证作用。     

Russian Companies in Old EU Member States

SUMMARY

In Germany small businesses seem to dominate Russian investment activities in number. Larger, export-oriented Russian companies, mostly from the raw materials sector, use Germany as an entry to Europe-primarily to the old EU member statesutilizing its technological and intellectual infrastructure. However, the majority of investment activities are unspecific and insignificant. Driven by market seeking motives, the Russian companies have established primarily representative offices and marketing subsidiaries. The only remarkable exception is Gazprom, which is involved in more specific and significant investments in Germany.     

地缘经济视角下俄罗斯远东地区开发问题研究

地缘经济学产生于世纪之交,是地缘政治学的一种延续和发展。该文以地缘经济学的理论发展为切入点,对俄罗斯远东开发中的国家利益诉求、政策制定及经济行为进行了探讨,对俄罗斯远东开发的现状进行剖析。分析表明,俄罗斯远东开发就是在地缘经济学理论背景下,促进俄罗斯远东地区经济发展的一种战略选择。     

俄罗斯人口危机与中俄劳务合作的发展

中俄劳务合作是两国经济贸易合作的重要组成部分。中俄两国在劳动力方面具有很强的互补性,两国劳务合作具有广阔空间。当前,影响中俄劳务合作的因素主要来自于俄罗斯相关政策的限制,"中国威胁论"言论的阻碍,中国的制度和政策环境还不够完善,中国企业的国际市场竞争力还有待加强,中国赴俄劳务人员的素质还有待提高等几个方面。中国应健全完善劳务合作的制度和政策环境;健全完善劳务输出服务体系和风险评估体系;加强政府管理和引导,提升劳务合作的层次;加强培训教育,提高出国劳务人员的素质;扩大中俄民间交往,增强相互了解和信任,消除误解。     

黑龙江省与俄罗斯远东地区旅游合作基础与路径

黑龙江省与俄罗斯远东地区具有旅游合作基础:良好的国家关系、独特的区位优势、丰富的旅游资源、特色的旅游项目,以及互为客源市场且市场潜力巨大。在此基础上,黑龙江省与俄罗斯远东地区深化跨境旅游合作,应合作开发精品跨境旅游线路,联合开发、生产、销售地域特色突出的旅游纪念品,构建网络型旅游合作空间模式。     

黑龙江省俄语专业课程设置初探

通过对《2010-2020年黑龙江省中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要》的学习,不难发现黑龙江省在未来几年把发展俄语教育列为高等教育的重点工作,这给高校俄语专业发展带来了新的契机。为了进一步提高教学质量,作为俄语人才培养摇篮的高校俄语专业开展了一系列教学改革,这些改革主要是针对教学方法的改革,课程设置的改革是一个被忽视的方面。通过对黑龙江省部分高校俄语专业的调查走访,发现课程设置上出现了一些急待解决的问题,因此课程设置改革势在必行。     

Country-of-Origin Effects on Russian Wine Consumers

In recent years, Russia has experienced significant economic growth. The wine industry is among those most affected by increases in disposable income. As a consequence, Russian wine importers have widened the range at the upper end of the quality spectrum. In the current scenario, some key questions arise concerning consumer attitudes toward wine and the way it is perceived in this evolving market. This article attempts to investigate such concerns through a choice experiment approach conducted by means of a questionnaire-based survey submitted to 388 Russian households located in the country's three largest cities (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Novosibirsk). In the experiment, respondents were asked to choose their favorite wine among seven dry red wines. The stated choices are analyzed using a random utility model to obtain an estimation of the price effect through a triangular distribution. Our results indicate the presence of three distinct market segments in the Russian wine market: a segment with only high-quality, highly priced Italian and French wines, a medium-quality segment currently limited to Spanish wines, and a much lower quality segment of wines in which demand for alcohol is essentially satisfied.