Cross-Curriculum Teaching

This article presents the Interdisciplinary collaboration and its potential and value for the modern education process. It also shares several examples from author's experience in Teaching Foreign Languages and further conclusions about cross-disciplinary work. Future is hold by those who are prepared to work in team and to create new products putting together knowledge from different scientific fields. This approach is one of the major challenges for the educators today, and it´s a fundamental step in the process of creation of future leaders. A few years ago the author got a chance to meet a famous scientist and explorer who hasopened his eyes towards this approach with several examples of collaborative work. Before that, the Interdisciplinary teaching, its potential and value for the contemporary education were no men´s land for the author.Since then, he has been keeping his eyes open to everything surrounding his lifeand he has tracked a good amount of examples of cross-disciplinary work. Now he realizes this is one of the major challenges for the educators today, and it´s a fundamental step in the process of creation of future leaders which we´re attempting to develop

Обучение этике социальной работы и принятие этического решения

The ethics of social work as applied ethics defines the purpose of teaching the course: to help students in their attempts to solve contemporary moral problems, associated with making an ethical decision. Social work education reflects social issues in society related to social inclusion, poverty and prosperity. Social work training at the Faculty of Medicine of Trakia University has an established tradition in cooperation with the institutions of social services and the state social agencies. This article highlights the importance of ethical education for students to acquire ethical decision-making skills, according to the specifics of practical situations. We argue that teaching by analysis of ethical dilemmas derived from the practice is one of the most effective means to develop and consolidate the practice of the real activity of performing the difficult but justified ethical choice. In this context, five groups of dilemmas that derive from the practice of social work in Bulgaria have been analyzed. The analysis and discussion of ethical dilemmas in teaching the ethics of social work are presented as a tool for orientation of students in the moral problematic situations with which they may encounter in the practice of social work.La ética del trabajo social como ética aplicada determina el propósito de la enseñanza del curso en la disciplina: ayudar a los estudiantes en sus intentos de resolver los problemas morales contemporáneos asociados con la toma de decisiones éticas. La formación en trabajo social refleja los problemas sociales en la sociedad relacionados con la inclusión social, la pobreza y el bienestar. La formación en Trabajo social en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Tracia tiene una tradición bien establecida en cooperación con los organismos de servicios sociales y las agencias sociales del estado. Este artículo describe la importancia de la formación profesional ética de los estudiantes para adquirir habilidades de toma de decisiones éticas de acuerdo con las características de las situaciones prácticas. Nosotros apoyamos la tesis de que la enseñanza a través del análisis de dilemas éticos sacados de la práctica es uno de los medios más efectivos para desarrollar y consolidar la práctica de la actividad real al tomar decisiones éticas difíciles pero bien fundadas. En este contexto, se han analizado cinco grupos de dilemas que surgen de la práctica del trabajo social en Bulgaria. Nosotros presentamos el análisis y la discusión de los dilemas éticos en la enseñanza de la ética del trabajo social como un medio para orientar a los estudiantes en las situaciones morales problemáticas que la práctica del trabajo social podría traerles.Этика социальной работы, будучи прикладной этикой, обосновывает цель преподавания полного курса этой дисциплины, а именно: оказать помощь студентам в их попытках решать современные моральные проблемы, требующих принятия этического решения. Образование специальности „Социальная работа“ отвечает на социальные проблемы общества, связанные с социальной интеграцией, бедностью и благополучием. В отношении обучения социальной работе Медицинский факультет Фракийского университета традиционно сотрудничает с учреждениями социальных услуг и государственными социальными агентствами. В настоящей статье подчеркивается большое значение профессионального этического обучения студентов для формирования у них умений по принятию этического решения в зависимости от специфических практических ситуаций. Мы придерживаемся тезиса, что преподавание путем анализа этических дилемм, возникших в практике, является одним из эффективнейших средств, способствующих развитию практики и ее прикреплению к реальной деятельности по осуществлению нелегкого, но обоснованного этического выбора. В данном контексте было проанализировано пять групп дилемм, возникающих в практике социальной работы в Болгарии. Анализ и обсуждение этических дилемм, применяемые в преподавании этики социальной работы, представлены нами как средство ориентации студентов в моральных проблемных ситуациях, с которыми они могли бы столкнуться в своей практике социальной работы

Influence of the occupational burnout syndrome on the work attractiveness among social workers

The objective of this article is to study and analyze the influence of burnout syndrome on the "work attractiveness" in social workers. For the purposes of the analysis, an empirical study was conducted among 170 social workers from 142 social services in Bulgaria. The data from the study confirmed though partially but statistically significant, the dependence of work attractiveness on the parameters of the occupational burnout syndrome in the professional social work practice. The following tendencies have been outlined: Influence of the “occupational burnout syndrome” in the part of emotional exhaustion on the work attractiveness. The high level of emotional exhaustion does not presuppose low work attractiveness, just the opposite. Influence of the “occupational burnout syndrome” in the part of emotional exhaustion on the probability of leaving. The dependency between the high emotional exhaustion and the low work dissatisfaction precondition a higher probability of leaving. Influence of the “occupational burnout syndrome” in the part reduction of personal achievements on the work attractiveness. The high reduction determines the higher level of occupational dissatisfaction. Our study shows that specification of social work depends both on the conditions of labor and the personal qualities of the social workers

Investigation of Titanium Hydride Produced from Titanium Waste

The work presents an original method for titanium hydride production by hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of titanium waste in a specially designed for this purpose vacuum chamber. Laboratory quantities of titanium hydride were prepared using LaNi5 hydrogen accumulator as a source of pure hydrogen. Chemical, X-ray, DTA, TG and granulometric analysis of the obtained hydride were made. The analyses carried out in the temperature range, 680-1070 К, DTA, TG and mass-spectrometry analysis allowed determining the activation energy of decomposition of the obtained TiH2 which was approximately E = -135.5 kJ/mol and the standard enthalpy of formation ΔH = -140 kJ/mol

Multiple proliferating trichilemmal cysts of the skalp: a case report. Multiple proliferating pilar tumors of the scalp

Proliferating trichilemmal cyst, also known as proliferating pilar scalp tumor, is a rare benign tumor of the hair follicle. While trichilemmal cysts are common intradermal or subcutaneous cysts, occuring in 5–10% of the population, only 2% will develop into proliferative trichilemmal cyst. The differential diagnosis should include lesions such as malignant proliferating trichilemmal tumor and squamous cell carcinoma. Surgical treatment is the only effective method for treating these rare cysts. We present a case report of a 78-years-old female patient who hasentered the Neurosurgery clinic of “St. Marina” University Hospital with clinical manifestation of rapidly growing from several months subcutaneous formation on the head and the presence of two smaller ones. MRI scan discovered three subcutaneous tumor formations suspicious for trichilem cysts, one of which was gigantic in size. After clinical discussion, under general anesthesia an operative treatment was performed with total extirpation of the cysts. Postoperatively, surgery-related complications were not observed. The patient was mobilized and verticalized on the day after intervention and discharged on the 5th day. As a result, a good cosmetic effect was obtained. Proliferating trichilemmal cyst is an uncommon neoplasm, and reporting of these lesions are important due to the good clinical evolution compared to the malignant macroscopic and microscopic feature of these tumor formations

Study of the Sintering Process of Iron Powders Coated with Nano-Hydrocarbon and the Resulting Microstructure at Temperatures up to 1200°C

The objective of the research is development and study of a new ecologically friendly and technologically advanced method for introduction of carbon during sintering of low alloyed iron powders ASC 100.29. The method is based on using hydrocarbon coating of the green powder, which transforms into carbon nanolayers between the powder particles, during the sintering process. The method avoids the use of graphite as alloying element and reductant, and allows for a much better homogenization, less porosity and overall increase of the quality of the final sintered product. The research presented is focused on the processes related to apparent density, fluidity and compressibility of the coated powder and resulting porosity after pressing and sintering. The aim is to determine the optimal coating conditions, and to acquire experimental data concerning key processes during the sintering and the originated microstructure. The sintering process was monitored in situ through DTA measurements and measurement of the exhaust gases pressure. Results obtained so far show better handling conditions for the green coated powders, compared to those using classical approach and higher homogeneity of the sintered specimens

Innovative development of a flying robot with a flexible manipulator for aerial manipulations

This paper presents an innovative development of a flying robot or an aerial robot, with a flexible manipulator, called the Dexterous Aerial Robotic System (DFTS), for aerial manipulations, especially for inspections and reparations of various structures such as wind turbines, power lines and open gas pipelines, decorations and painting of high industrial chimneys and walls of high buildings, as well as transport and delivery of courier shipments, relocation and manipulation of assemblies and units in inaccessible or dangerous environments. The proposed DFTS consists of two independent but interconnected systems or functional units, which have two main separate functions respectively, including a basic carrying function, and a precise positioning and stabilization function. The system with a basic carrying function is actually the main flying system, the un-manned aerial vehicle (UAV); it is remotely controlled and piloted. Meanwhile, the aerial manipulation platform, called the vertical take-off and landing platform VTOL, which is an active flying platform with 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) is used for positioning and stabilization; and it is attached to the UAV via the soft link. With the use of a long soft link, the problems which are caused by the air turbulent flows generated by the UAV are minimized, and the aerial manipulations of objects are safely controlled and operated. The VTOL which is equipped with a grasping mechanism was successfully developed, prototyped and tested. The experimental results showed that, the developed VTOL can self-stabilize with the inclination angle of being up to 8 degrees

Development of a smart system for early detection of forest fires based on unmanned aerial vehicles

The naturally occurring wildfires and the people-related forest fires are events, which in many cases have significant impact on the environment, the wildlife and the human population. The most devastating among these events usually start in unpopulated remote areas, which are difficult to inspect or are not constantly being monitored or observed. This gives the local small-sized fires enough time to evolve into full-scale wide-area disasters, which in turn makes their suppression and extinguishing very difficult. In this paper, we present an autonomous system for early detection of forest fires, named THEASIS-M. The presented system represents a solution that is based on a combination of innovative technologies, including computer vision algorithms, artificial intelligence and unmanned aerial vehicles. In the first part of the study, we provide an overview on the present applications of the UAVs in the forestry domain. The paper then introduces the general architecture of the THEASIS-M system and its components. The system itself is fully autonomous and is based on several different types of UAVs, including a fixed-wing drone, which provides the overall forest monitoring capabilities of the proposed solution, and a rotary-wing UAV that is used for confirmation and monitoring of the detected fire event. The widely used technologies for computer vision and image processing, which are used for the detection of fire and smoke in the real-time video streams sent from the UAVs to the ground control station, are highlighted in the next section of this study. Finally, the experimental tests and demonstrations of the proposed THEASIS-M system are presented and briefly discussed

Stereo Visual Odometry

This paper presents an implementation of a visual odometry system as described by David Nister\ud using Videre Design's STH-DCSG Firewire stereo video head, which runs on an AMD Athlon-based\ud workstation with 1 GB RAM. The system tracks the 3D position of a calibrated stereo head\ud as it moves through the environment. Harris corner features are identified in the video stream,\ud and are then matched and triangulated into 3D points. A RANSAC implementation with a quaternion motion estimation method as its hypothesis generator, is used for pose estimation.\ud The system is able to estimate movement in the camera's x and y planes with a maximum error\ud of 12cm for a duration of a minute or longer: A persistent drift in the z dimension (along the\ud camera optical ray) prevents the extraction of useful movement data along that axis