For the healthcare institutions treating patients with obesit. An episode from the memories of Prof. Dr. Lukan Balabanski

Excerpts (149-157 pp.) from the memoir of prof. Dr. Lukan Balabanski "Over the years. Remembering people and events, “Gitava” Ltd., Sofia, 2005, 223 pp.Professor. L. Balabanski is the founder of the “Clinic of Metabolic Diseases and Dietetics”, director of Scientific Institute in Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Rector of Medical Academy in the period 1987-1988, founder and honorary chairman of the Bulgarian Society of Nutrition and Dietetics; former member of the European Academy of Nutrition Sciences and a member of its Council, Chairman of the “Committee on diet-obesity-diabetes of the International Union of Nutrition Sciences (1977-1989)

Stoic Echoes in non-Stoic Sources: Exploring Stoic Influence in the First and Second Centuries CE

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. © 2017, Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand. All rights reserved.This article examines David Hahm’s claim that “more people in the Mediterranean world would have held a more or less Stoic conception of the world than any other from the third century BCE to the second century CE”. If this is so, most New Testament studies do not take this adequately into account. Focussing on the first and second centuries CE, this paper addresses the barriers to an accurate assessment of this claim, then considers the approach of two scholars in this area. Then three geographically diverse texts of the period specifically not written by Stoic adherents are examined for evidence of Stoic influence (Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho, Ch. 2; Philo’s De aeternitate mundi, paragraph 24, & Acts 17.15–34). What these analyses show is that Stoic ideas were known and discussed in this period among those who were not Stoic proponents, strengthening the case for widespread Stoic influence

Application of infrared spectral analyses for medicinal plants containing calcium (Ca2+)

A study was performed with the methods of Non-equilibrium energy spectrum (NES), Differential non-equilibrium energy spectrum (DNES), mathematical models and water cluster analysis on the changes of hydrogen bonds energy distribution in aqueous solutions due to calcium ions (Ca2+) from the medicinal plants: Origanum vulgare L., Thymus vulgaris L., Mentha longifolia L., Petroselinum crispum Mill., Sideritis scardica Griseb., Salvia officinalis L. All of them are known to contain more than 1000 mg/100 g of calcium ions. The local maximum at (E = -0.1112 eV) (? = 11.15 ?m) (? = 897 cm-1) in all investigated solutions was associated with the presence of calcium ions by Student’s t-test at P<0,05. In the proposed practical approach, the solutions had similar clustering patterns at E = -0.1387 eV, corresponding to water clusters of 16-20 water molecules. These findings from different plant species further expand the evidence about the specific influence of calcium ions on the -0.1112 eV hydrogen bonds energy level in aqueous solutions

Interactions Between Herbs And Drugs At The Level Of Сytochrome P450

Taking drugs simultaneously with plant products, nikotin, alcohol, insecticides can lead to  different drug interaction between them.A literature review of potential adverse clinical interaction at pharmacokinetic level (cytochrome P450 enzyme superfamily) between plant products and medical products taken concomitantly has been performed. Necessary importance to plant products to cause side effects when taken in a combination with medical products is not given often. They seem to be underestimated by physicians and patients. Leading mechanism of drug interaction at pharmacokinetic level is Cytochrome P450 system (CYP450). CYP450 is one of the most important systems for biotransformation of the drugs. CYP 450 enzymes are responsible for the metabolism of more than 50 percent of the drugs. Among people are found more than 50 isoenzymes which are classified in different classes and families. Isoenzymes which are with most valuable role for metabolism of drugs are CYP 1А2, CYP 2А6, CYP 2В6, CYP 2С9, CYP 2D6, CYP 2Е1, CYP 3А4. Plant ingredients can affect the activity of  the cytochrome P450 enzyme superfamily by ty two mechanisms – induction and inhibition of isoenzymes. The use of in vitro and in vivo approaches in studying the mechanism of action of plants products and of bioactive substances isolated from plants has led to their identification as substrates, inhibitors and/ or inducers of various CYP isoenzymes.Conclusion. Plant products which are inhibitors or inductors of cytochrome P450 enzymes can modulate the effectiveness of drugs substrates of this system at the pharmacokinetics level in their concomitant use. To avoid such situations in patients taking plant products and drugs is recommended this not to happen concomitantly but at 1.5-2 hours interval.

Radiofrequency catheter ablation in a child with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries

The case is presented of a five-year-old boy with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, who had undergone three surgical palliations because of congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, ventricular septal defect and pulmonary trunk near-atresia. Successful and uncomplicated radiofrequency catheter ablation of an accessory pathway located across the systemic atrioventricular valve ring was performed. The procedure was motivated by forthcoming corrective surgery, which would preclude venous access to the heart. This case emphasizes the need for precise timing of ablative therapy in such patients and shows that surgery itself may facilitate catheter ablation. (Cardiol J 2007; 14: 500-503

Precision Measurement of 11Li moments: Influence of Halo Neutrons on the 9Li Core

The electric quadrupole moment and the magnetic moment of the 11Li halo nucleus have been measured with more than an order of magnitude higher precision than before, |Q| = 33.3(5)mb and mu=3.6712(3)mu_N, revealing a 8.8(1.5)% increase of the quadrupole moment relative to that of 9Li. This result is compared to various models that aim at describing the halo properties. In the shell model an increased quadrupole moment points to a significant occupation of the 1d orbits, whereas in a simple halo picture this can be explained by relating the quadrupole moments of the proton distribution to the charge radii. Advanced models so far fail to reproduce simultaneously the trends observed in the radii and quadrupole moments of the lithium isotopes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Stroke incidence in Indigenous, minority populations: a review of methods for studying stroke in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

Declining worldwide or national stroke incidence rates are not always mirrored in disadvantaged, minority populations. Logistical barriers exist for effective measurement of incidence in minority populations; such data are required to identify targets for culturally appropriate interventions. In this comparative review, we aimed to examine whether “gold-standard” methodologies of stroke incidence studies are most effective for minority populations. We compared three studies of stroke incidence in Aboriginal Australians, each using different methodologies of case ascertainment. In Study 1, “gold-standard” population-based methods were used, while in Study 2, a retrospective hospital-based cohort design was utilized, and in Study 3, whole-of-population linked hospital and mortality data was employed. Study 1 captured both in-hospital and out-of-hospital stroke events but had a small sample size for Aboriginal patients. Study 2 provided a larger sample size while still allowing for clinical and radiological subtyping of stroke but was subject to selection bias and was limited to hospitalized cases. Study 3 had a large sample size and allowed for subgroup analysis, though lacked clinical adjudication and had large proportions of ‘undetermined stroke'. Despite diagnostic imprecision, we recommend a paradigm shift in measuring stroke incidence in Indigenous, minority populations, favoring the use of whole-of-population data linkage including non-hospitalized stroke deaths, over resource-intensive prospective methods, where more suitable for the target population

Determination of the photodisintegration reaction rates involving charged particles: systematical calculations and proposed measurements based on Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP)

Photodisintegration reaction rates involving charged particles are of relevance to the p-process nucleosynthesis that aims at explaining the production of the stable neutron-deficient nuclides heavier than iron. In this study, the cross sections and astrophysical rates of (g,p) and (g,a) reactions for about 3000 target nuclei with 10<Z<100 ranging from stable to proton dripline nuclei are computed. To study the sensitivity of the calculations to the optical model potentials (OMPs), both the phenomenological Woods-Saxon and the microscopic folding OMPs are taken into account. The systematic comparisons show that the reaction rates, especially for the (g,a) reaction, are dramatically influenced by the OMPs. Thus the better determination of the OMP is crucial to reduce the uncertainties of the photodisintegration reaction rates involving charged particles. Meanwhile, a gamma-beam facility at ELI-NP is being developed, which will open new opportunities to experimentally study the photodisintegration reactions of astrophysics interest. Considering both the important reactions identified by the nucleosynthesis studies and the purpose of complementing the experimental results for the reactions involving p-nuclei, the measurements of six (g,p) and eight (g,a) reactions based on the gamma-beam facility at ELI-NP and the ELISSA detector for the charged particles detection are proposed, and the GEANT4 simulations are correspondingly performed. The minimum required energies of the gamma-beam to measure these reactions are estimated. It is shown that the direct measurements of these photonuclear reactions within the Gamow windows at T_9=2.5 for p-process are fairly feasible and promising at ELI-NP. The expected experimental results will be used to constrain the OMPs of the charged particles, which can eventually reduce the uncertainties of the reaction rates for the p-process nucleosynthesis.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, Phys. Rev. C accepte

Spins, Electromagnetic Moments, and Isomers of 107-129Cd

The neutron-rich isotopes of cadmium up to the N=82 shell closure have been investigated by high-resolution laser spectroscopy. Deep-UV excitation at 214.5 nm and radioactive-beam bunching provided the required experimental sensitivity. Long-lived isomers are observed in 127Cd and 129Cd for the first time. One essential feature of the spherical shell model is unambiguously confirmed by a linear increase of the 11/2- quadrupole moments. Remarkably, this mechanism is found to act well beyond the h11/2 shell