Kinetic hindrance during the initial oxidation of Pd(100) at ambient pressures

The oxidation of the Pd(100) surface at oxygen pressures in the 10^-6 to 10^3 mbar range and temperatures up to 1000 K has been studied in-situ by surface x-ray diffraction (SXRD). The results provide direct structural information on the phases present in the surface region and on the kinetics of the oxide formation. Depending on the (T,p) environmental conditions we either observe a thin sqrt(5) x sqrt(5) R27 surface oxide or the growth of a rough, poorly ordered bulk oxide film of PdO predominantly with (001) orientation. By either comparison to the surface phase diagram from first-principles atomistic thermodynamics or by explicit time-resolved measurements we identify a strong kinetic hindrance to the bulk oxide formation even at temperatures as high as 675 K.Comment: 4 pages including 4 figures, Related publications can be found at http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm

Ökolandbau in Bulgarien–vor allem Arznei- und Aromapflanzen sowie Waldfrüchte, Obst und Bio-Honig für den Export

The statistical data of the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture show an certified growing area of 9 370 ha in near 80 farm holdings for organic plant production, 2 in mixed plant and animal production and 5 organic livestock breeding farms. Much bigger area of ca. 155 793 ha is certified grassland and protected areas for wild collection of herbs and wild berries. The average agricultural holdings cover 0,5 ha. Two hubs in South and North Bulgaria launched the pilot Organic Herbs initiative in an UNDP JOBS project at the end of 2002. Now 8 support centers have nurseries for organic seeds and seedlings, trail plots, demonstration and production fields, driers and primary processing facilities. The main products are sage, lemon balm, peppermint, valerian, mountain tea, savory, chamomile, dog-rose, lavender, thyme, hyssop and marigold

VIRTUAL LIBRARY OF THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF VARNA - IDEOGENESIS, PRESENCE, AND FUTURE

The Library and Information Service at Prof. Paraskev Stoyanov Medical University of Varna has passed through several stages in its historical development. They results obtained are related with the timely recognition of the necessity of introduction in the Library of the new information technologies. Thus the library staff faces the requirements of the information society of the new millennium. The enthusiastic efforts of the governing body of the library are directed to the permanent improvement of information retrieval in the university medical libraries in Bulgaria, the coordination of their computerization, and the creative enrichment of the forms and methods of information service of the teachers and students. Modern audiovisual means are used along with interactive user's education for independent search in the foreign databases in the library and through Internet. The electronic-mail connections help delivering the documents to the readers in the university departments and clinics after scanning the paper information sources in our library and in other libraries. The electronic library catalogue of books is already accessible through Internet. Our idea of a modern virtual library opened to the future and preserving the rich traditions of our University becomes step-by-step a fascinating reality

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension: a possible association with Imatinib

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is characterized by an increased intracranial pressure in the absence of a tumor and in the absence of a venous thrombosis. Associated risk factors include obesity and several medications such as tetracyclines. We report a 60-year-old patient who developed IIH under treatment with imatinib. To our knowledge such a possible connection has not been reported in the literature, even though intracranial hypertension is now listed as a rare possible side effect of treatment with imatinib in the Swiss List of Medications Arzneimittelkompendium. It remains to be seen, if further case reports will support this observation

COMPARISON OF SKELETAL MATURITY AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE IN BULGARIAN FEMALE AND MALE PATIENTS WITH TRANSVERSE MAXILLARY DEFICIT

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the skeletal and chronological age of adolescent Bulgarian female and male patients with а transverse maxillary deficit in order to establish the level of consistencies and discrepancies within and between the two sexes. Material and methods: The data included lateral cephalometric radiographs of 74 patients, among whom 51 girls and 23 boys. The patients’ ages ranged between 9 and 17 years, with an average age of 13.2 years (±2.24). The assessment of skeletal maturation followed the cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) methods of Baccetti et al. and Lamparski. Comparison of skeletal and chronological age was performed for patients before age spurt and after age spurt within the female and male groups. The two sexes were compared in view of consistencies and discrepancies between chronological and skeletal age. Results: The results showed a statistically lower percentage of consistencies and a higher percentage of discrepancies in patients before age spurt for both sexes. Vice versa, in patients after age spurt consistencies, constituted a statistically higher percentage for both sexes. As a whole, the female patients had a slightly higher percentage of consistency (54%) between chronological and skeletal age than the male patients (48%), but the difference of 6% was not statistically significant p = 0.73. The discrepancies towards a higher skeletal age constituted 83% of the total number of discrepancies among the female patients and 75% of the discrepancies among the male patients. The difference of 8% was not significant, p = 0.56. The mean chronological age of the female and male patients in each CVS stage was very similar. Conclusion: In patients with incomplete skeletal growth, skeletal age corresponds to a higher level of maturation than predicted by the patients’ chronological age in both female and male patients. The two sexes show similar trends of accelerated skeletal maturation without statistically significant differences. Our results differ from previous findings of the existence of sexual dimorphism in skeletal age maturation