Przygotowanie specjalistów z zakresu turyzmu na Uniwersytecie Sofijskim

Gwałtowny rozwój turystyki w Bułgarii wymagał przygotowania wysoko kwalifikowanych kadr z wyższym w ykształceniem. Kształcenie takie rozpoczęto W 1965 r. w Wyższym Instytucie Ekonomicznym w Warnie w zakresie ekonomiki i organizacji turystyki, a od 1967 r. w zakresie geografii na Uniwersytecie Sofijskim. Specjalistów od turystyki przygotowuje także Wyższy Instytut Kultury Fizycznej oraz dwie szkoły typu półwyższego w Burgas i Warnie. W roku 1973 na Wydziale Geologiczno-Geograficznym Uniwersytetu Sofijskiego powołano samodzielną Katedrę Geografii Turyzmu, która prowadzi specjalizacyjne studia w zakiesie geografii turyzmu

L’industrie osseuse du Néolithique ancien du site de Nova Nadezhda (Bulgarie)

Le site de Nova Nadezhda se trouve dans la région de Thrace, en Bulgarie. Le site est localisé dans la vallée du fleuve Maritsa, sur la rive droite, à environ 300 m du fleuve, et il couvre environ 5 ha. Les fouilles de sauvetage ont été effectuées par l’Institut archéologique national et le Musée de l’Académie bulgare des sciences (Sofia)en 2013-2014, et ensuite on a commencé des fouilles systématiques (en cours). Le site de Nova Nadezhda représente un gisement avec des vestiges archéologiques du Néolithique ancien, Néolithique récent, Chalcolithique, l’Age du Fer ; on a trouvé également une nécropole du 17-18ème siècle. Les vestiges du Néolithique ancien sont les plus riches. Les structures incluent des maison, des trous, des fossés, des sépultures ; les trouvailles incluent des récipients céramiques, des outils en pierre taillée, en pierre polie, et en matières dures animales. Ici on va présenter les résultats préliminaires de l’analyse techno-typologique de l’industrie osseuse du Néolithique ancien (cca 6000 calBC). Les matières premières incluent des os divers (métapodes, tibiae, côtes), du bois de cerf et des coquillages. Les types caractéristiques incluent des poinçons fabriqués en métapodes et côtes, des grattoirs fabriqués en côtes, des outils tranchants fabriqués en tibiae, des spatules-cuillères fabriquées en métapodes, etc. Il y a également quelques ornements – bracelets de coquillage. Les pièces techniques (des éclats, produits semi-finis) ont permis de reconstruire la chaîne opératoire pour les types principaux et montrent en même temps que les outils ont été produits dans le gisement

Nicotine receptor partial agonists for smoking cessation

BACKGROUND: Nicotine receptor partial agonists may help smokers to quit by a combination of maintaining moderate levels of dopamine to counteract withdrawal symptoms (acting as an agonist) and reducing smoking satisfaction (acting as an antagonist). Varenicline was developed as a nicotine receptor partial agonist from cytisine, a drug widely used in central and eastern Europe for smoking cessation. The first trial reports of varenicline were released in 2006, and further trials are underway. OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this review is to assess the efficacy and tolerability of nicotine receptor partial agonists, including varenicline and cytisine, for smoking cessation. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group's specialised register for trials, using the terms ('varenicline' or 'cytisine' or 'Tabex' or 'nicotine receptor partial agonist') and 'smoking' in the title or abstract, or as keywords. We also searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINAHL using MeSH terms and free text, and we contacted authors of trial reports for additional information where necessary. The last search was in October 2006. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomized controlled trials which compared the treatment drug with placebo. We also included comparisons with bupropion where available. We excluded trials which did not report a minimum follow-up period of six months from start of treatment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We extracted data in duplicate on the type of participants, the dose and duration of treatment, the outcome measures, the randomization procedure, concealment of allocation, and completeness of follow up. The main outcome measured was abstinence from smoking after at least six months from the beginning of treatment. We used the most rigorous definition of abstinence, and preferred biochemically validated rates where they were reported. Where appropriate we performed meta-analysis using the Mantel-Haenszel fixed-effect model. MAIN RESULTS: We found five trials of varenicline compared with placebo for smoking cessation; three of these also included a bupropion experimental arm. We also found one relapse prevention trial, comparing varenicline with placebo. The six trials covered 4924 participants, 2451 of whom used varenicline. We identified one trial of cytisine (Tabex) for inclusion. The pooled odds ratio (OR) for continuous abstinence at 12 months for varenicline versus placebo was 3.22 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.43 to 4.27). The pooled OR for varenicline versus bupropion was 1.66 (95% CI 1.28 to 2.16). The main adverse effect of varenicline was nausea, which was mostly at mild to moderate levels and usually subsided over time. The two trials which tested the use of varenicline beyond the 12-week standard regimen found the drug to be well-tolerated and effective during long-term use. The one cytisine trial included in this review found that more participants taking cytisine stopped smoking compared with placebo at two-year follow up, with an OR of 1.77 (95% CI 1.30 to 2.40). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Varenicline increased the odds of successful long-term smoking cessation approximately threefold compared with pharmacologically unassisted quit attempts. In trials reported so far, more participants quit successfully with varenicline than with bupropion. The effectiveness of varenicline as an aid to relapse prevention has not been clearly established. The main adverse effect of varenciline is nausea, but this is mostly at mild to moderate levels and tends to reduce with habituation. There is a need for independent trials of varenicline versus placebo, to test the early findings. There is also a need for direct comparisons with nicotine replacement therapy, and for further trials with bupropion, to establish the relative efficacy of the treatments.Cytisine may also increase the chances of quitting, but the evidence at present is inconclusive

The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

Early Neolithic jar burials in southeast Europe: a comparative approach

A typical product of early farming symbolism, jar burial, appeared in the beginning of southeast European Neolithization. Early jar burial development in south-east Europe displays two distinct chronological levels: an early Neolithic core area in the Struma and Vardar valleys and the western Rhodope, and later, late/final Neolithic and/or early Chalcolithic – depending on local terminology – manifestations ‘scattered’ in various places in the study area. It is the early chronological level of jar burial distribution that will be considered here in relation to the first expressions of these mortuary practices in Central Anatolia, in order to throw some light on the specifics of their origins and variability.Tipičen element zgodnjega simbolizma poljedelcev, pokop v posodi, se je pojavil na začetku procesa neolitizacije jugovzhodne Evrope. Zgodnji razvoj teh pokopov kaže dve kronološki stopnji: zgodnje neolitsko jedrno območje v dolinah rek Strume in Vardarja ter zahodnih Rodopih in mlajše, pozno/končno neolitske in/ali zgodnje bakrenodobne pokope – odvisno od terminologije, razpršene v regiji. V razpravi analiziramo najstarejše žarne grobove in jih v kontekstu izvora teh grobnih praks, primerjamo s pokopi v centralni Anatoliji

Neolithic sheep birth distribution Results from Nova Nadezhda (sixth millennium BC, Bulgaria) and a reassessment of European data with a new modern reference set including upper and lower molars

International audienceDuring the course of the diffusion of Neolithic agro-pastoral societies across Europe, animal husbandry was adapted to local constraints and resources, involving changes in practices as well as in animal physiology. As a result, the timing of animal breeding was impacted, with consequences on the organization of agro-pastoral tasks and the seasonal availability of animal products. Past sheep birth seasonality can be investigated through the reconstruction of the seasonal cycle recorded in molars, based on the sequential analysis of stable oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) in enamel. Modern sheep serve as comparative material to define the season of birth. In the present study, we provide new reference values for winter births in the sheep third molar (M3) using data from the modern Kemenez sheep herd. The dataset also includes paired upper and lower M3s in order to test the comparability of results obtained from both teeth. Results show a moderate shift in the isotopic record between upper and lower M3s. The consecutive difference in the assessment of the timing of birth is one month, on average. Additionally, we provide a new set of results for sheep from Nova Nadezhda (Bulgaria, early sixth millennium BC), combining upper and lower molars, in order to expand data relating to the earliest stages of the introduction of sheep to Europe. At Nova Nadezhda, sheep were born in late winter and spring, and the pattern of birth distribution does not indicate the control of sheep reproduction by separating males from females. When compared to previously published results at other Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in the Balkans, corrected for the shift between upper and lower M3s, no latitudinal and chronological trend is observed between the Southern Balkans, Northern Balkans and Hungarian plains over the early sixth to the second half of the fifth millennia BC. This apparent uniformity for the length (3–4 months) and timing of the birth period could be challenged in the future by enlarged datasets. © 2020 Elsevier Lt

Earliest expansion of animal husbandry beyond the Mediterranean zone in the sixth millennium BC

Since their domestication in the Mediterranean zone of Southwest Asia in the eighth millennium BC, sheep, goats, pigs and cattle have been remarkably successful in colonizing a broad variety of environments. The initial steps in this process can be traced back to the dispersal of farming groups into the interior of the Balkans in the early sixth millennium BC, who were the first to introduce Mediterranean livestock beyond its natural climatic range. Here, we combine analysis of biomolecular and isotopic compositions of lipids preserved in prehistoric pottery with faunal analyses of taxonomic composition from the earliest farming sites in southeast Europe to reconstruct this pivotal event in the early history of animal husbandry. We observe a marked divergence between the (sub)Mediterranean and temperate regions of Southeast Europe, and in particular a significant increase of dairying in the biochemical record coupled with a shift to cattle and wild fauna at most sites north of the Balkan mountain range. The findings strongly suggest that dairying was crucial for the expansion of the earliest farming system beyond its native bioclimatic zone