The character of the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece

The study discusses the character of the name issue between Macedonia and Greece. Launching the conflict energy and open and hidden items of the dispute is of crucial importance for the mediators and politicians involved in its resolution and diplomatic and technical opportunity thereof. This definitely has impact on the parties in their attempts to disclose and control their own emotional energies involved in the dispute assisting in its rationalisation. It also provides chronology of the conflicting phases through which the dispute is canalised with regard to the latest mediator's proposals for its resolution

The Banking Sector and the Great Depression in Bulgaria, 1924 - 1938: Interlocking and Financial Sector Profitability

The economic narratives of Southeast Europe during the first part of the 20th century are currently being re-written. A story of failed industrialisation and delayed modernisation during the Interwar period has dominated since the pioneering work of Gerschenkron, but not enough aggregate data are available to see this as the only interpretation. In particular, virtually nothing is known about the financial system. This paper has two aims. First, it looks at the banking sector in Bulgaria in 1924- 1938. We provide new data for the 1920s rise and the 1930s decline of the Bulgarian banking sector and we evaluate its potential contribution to Bulgarian economic growth. In the second part, we discuss different explanations for the widespread collapse of commercial banks after the onset of the Great Depression. Relying on a new data set for over 100 Bulgarian commercial banks, we show that traditional explanations for the collapse of European commercial banks in the 1930s (based on the default of risky loans and falling asset prices due to deflation) need to be complemented by the pernicious effects of widespread insider lending in the Bulgarian case. We conclude that insider lending was the single most important factor behind the demise of the private banking system after the onset of the Depression.Bulgarian economic development; Banking and finance; Great Depression; Insider lending

Melatonin, corticosterone, stress and phagocytic activity

ABSTRACT: The present study was conducted to detct the direct reletionships between melatonin and corticosterone under stress condition and possible actions of the two hormones on phagocitic activity of rat peritoneal macrophages. Two experiments were performed. In the first one stress increased the corticosterone plasma concentration to 287+-23 ng/ml while nocturnal melatonin levels were depressed. Clear rise in macrophages capacity to ingest latex beads was noticed when they were incubated with maximum melatonin added (115 pg/ml) and combination of melatonin and corticosterone combinations investigated. The results concerning phagocytic efficiency showed that only significant differences were when phagocytes were received from unstressed rats. РЕЗЮМЕ: Настоящото изследване бе проведено за да се изяснят взаимоотношенията между нивото на мелатонина и кортикостерона в кръвта на плъхове по време на стрес и влиянието на двата хормона върху фагоцитната активност на макрофаги получени от стресирани плъхове. За целта бяха проведени два експеримента. При първия нивото на кортикостерона в кръвта по време на стрес достигна 287 +- 23 ng/ml, докато нивото на мелатонина през нощта бе подтиснато. Повишение на фагоцитната активност бе отбелязана след добавяне на максималното тестирано количество мелатонин (115 pg/ml) или комбинации от мелатонин и кортикостерон. Резултатите отнасящи се до фагоцитната активност показват, че единствено статистически достоверно различие се получава когато фагоцитите бяха получавани от несъпресирани плъхове

Spectro-temporal shaping of seeded free-electron laser pulses

We demonstrate the ability to control and shape the spectro-temporal content of extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) pulses produced by a seeded free-electron laser (FEL). The control over the spectro-temporal properties of XUV light was achieved by precisely manipulating the linear frequency chirp of the seed laser. Our results agree with existing theory, which allows retrieving the temporal properties (amplitude and phase) of the FEL pulse from measurements of the spectra as a function of the FEL operating parameters. Furthermore, we show the first direct evidence of the full temporal coherence of FEL light and generate Fourier limited pulses by fine-tuning the FEL temporal phase. The possibility to tailor the spectro-temporal content of intense short-wavelength pulses represents the first step towards efficient nonlinear optics in the XUV to X-ray spectral region and will enable precise manipulation of core-electron excitations using the methods of coherent quantum control.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Single-shot fluctuations in waveguided high-harmonic generation

For exploring the application potential of coherent soft x-ray (SXR) and extreme ultraviolet radiation (XUV) provided by high-harmonic generation, it is important to characterize the central output parameters. Of specific importance are pulse-to-pulse (shot-to-shot) fluctuations of the high-harmonic output energy, fluctuations of the direction of the emission (pointing instabilities), and fluctuations of the beam divergence and shape that reduce the spatial coherence. We present the first single-shot measurements of waveguided high-harmonic generation in a waveguided (capillary-based) geometry. Using a capillary waveguide filled with Argon gas as the nonlinear medium, we provide the first characterization of shot-to-shot fluctuations of the pulse energy, of the divergence and of the beam pointing. We record the strength of these fluctuations vs. two basic input parameters, which are the drive laser pulse energy and the gas pressure in the capillary waveguide. In correlation measurements between single-shot drive laser beam profiles and single-shot high-harmonic beam profiles we prove the absence of drive laser beam-pointing-induced fluctuations in the high-harmonic output. We attribute the main source of high-harmonic fluctuations to ionization-induced nonlinear mode mixing during propagation of the drive laser pulse inside the capillary waveguide

Space-time coupling of shaped ultrafast ultraviolet pulses from an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter

A comprehensive experimental analysis of spatio-temporal coupling effects inherent to the acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter (AOPDF) is presented. Phase and amplitude measurements of the AOPDF transfer function are performed using spatially and spectrally resolved interferometry. Spatio-temporal and spatio-spectral coupling effects are presented for a range of shaped pulses that are commonly used in quantum control experiments. These effects are shown to be attributable to a single mechanism: a group-delay--dependent displacement of the shaped pulse. The physical mechanism is explained and excellent quantitative agreement between the measured and calculated coupling speed is obtained. The implications for quantum control experiments are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication within JOSA