Разработване на онтология в областта на хуманитаристиката

Съхранeнието и разпространението на знания за културно-историческите и природни обекти в България е от изключително значение. В тази връзка във Факултета по математика и информатика на Пловдивския университет се разработва проект, свързан с имплементацията на интелигентен туристически екскурзовод, който по зададени критерии от туриста, генерира виртуални или туристически реални маршрути. В статията ще бъде представена част от базата знания на туристическия екскурзовод, а именно онтология, описваща богатството на българската литература. Представена е структурата на онтологията, базовите аксиоми и зависимости между основните концепции, а също така идентичностите за отделните концепции в онтологията.The preservation and dissemination of knowledge about cultural, historical, and natural sites in Bulgaria is extremely important. In this regard, the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of Plovdiv University is developing a project related to the implementation of an intelligent tourist guide, which, according to the tourist’s criteria, generates virtual or real tourist routes. The article will present part of the knowledge base of the tourist guide, namely an ontology that describes the richness of Bulgarian literature. The structure of the ontology, the basic axioms, and dependencies between the basic concepts, as well as the identities of the individual concepts in the ontology are presented

Представяне и обработка на знания за културно-историческото и природното наследство на България в интелигентен туристически пътеводител

Докладът представя един реинженерингов подход за разширение на базата от знания на разработвания в DeLC лабораторията на ПУ "П. Хилендарски" интелигентен туристически пътеводител с информация за българските културни, исторически и природни обекти, съхранени в съществуващи нестандартизирани бази от данни. Туристическият пътеводител се разработва като мултиагентна среда, базирана на референтната архитектура на Виртуалното физическо пространство (ViPS). Базата знания във ViPS се базират на мрежа от онтологии - OntoNet. За да използваме съществуващите бази данни, е необходимо да се създаде единна БД, базирана на стандарта CCO (Cataloging Cultural Objects) за представяне на културно-исторически обекти на ЮНЕСКО.The report presents a reengineering approach to expand the knowledge base of the intelligent Tourist Guide developed in the DeLC laboratory of Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski" with information about the Bulgarian cultural, historical and natural sites stored in existing non-standardized databases. The Tourist Guide is created as a multi-agent environment based on the reference architecture of the Virtual Physical Space (ViPS). The knowledge base in ViPS is based on a network of ontologies - OntoNet. In order to use the existing databases, it is necessary to create a common database based on the CCO standard (Cataloging Cultural Objects) for the presentation of cultural and historical sites of UNESCO.Авторите изказват благодарност към научен проект ФП21-ФМИ-002 „Интелигентни иновационни ИКТ в научните изследвания в областта на математиката, информатиката и педагогиката на обучението“ към Фонд Научни изследвания на ПУ „Паисий Хилендарски“, за частичното финансиране на настоящата работа

Cataract surgery - behind the numbers

Introduction:Cataracts remain the main leading cause of blindness worldwide, accounting for half (51%) of all cases. Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed surgical procedure in many developed countries. Insufficient statistics in the territory of Bulgaria imposed the carrying out of this study.Materials and Methods:The study was conducted at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Medical University of Varna. The records of all patients with cataract for one year were processed. Patient data was derived from information about gender, age, residency, education, and social status. Specific information encompassed preoperative visual acuity, optical force and type of implanted intraocular lens as well as accompanying diseases.Results:Of all performed interventions, 49.9% were because of cataract. The oldest operated patient was 92 years of age and the youngest was 2 years old, with a median of 72 years. Of all patients included in the study, women represented 61.1% and male - 38.9%. Regarding residence, 83.8% of all patients were living in cities and 16.1% in villages in Bulgaria and 0.1% were foreigners. Retired were 88.6% of the participants, working - 10.5% and 0.9% reported that they were unemployed at the time of the operation. Of all operated eyes 50.9% were right and 49.1% - left. The mean preoperative visual acuity was 0.2. The median of the dioptric force of the implanted lenses was 21.5 D as lenses with such a dopter were implanted to 10.3% of the entire group. Three percent (3%) of the patients enrolled in the study did not have an intraocular lens (IOL) implanted. There was a slight negative statistically significant correlation between the age of the intervention and the operation, according to which rural populations resorted to cataract surgery at lower baseline age than those in urban areas.Conclusion:Cataract is a socially significant disease leading to poor quality of life. The results of the study demonstrate some negative trends associated with the socio-economic status of the country, the cultural and demographic peculiarities of the population

Potential of a hybrid wind-diesel-compressed air system for nordic remote canadian areas

In Canada, off-grid power production is significant, with more than 200,000 people living in about 300 remote communities scattered across Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and other islands. Most of these isolated sites rely on diesel to generate electricity. The operation of these remote isolated grids run on a deficit in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars yearly and must therefore be subsidized by the government. Low and high penetration wind–diesel hybrid systems (WDS) have been experimented to reduce diesel consumption. In a previous article, we explored the re-engineering of current diesel power plants with the introduction of high penetration wind systems using compressed air energy storage (CAES). This is a viable alternative to increase the overall percentage of renewable energy and reduce the cost of electricity, to increase the diesel engine lifetime and efficiency and to decrease their fuel consumption and GHG emissions. In this paper, we present the operative principle of this hybrid system, its economic benefits and advantages. Finally, we apply this concept in the case of a Canadian Nordic village to demonstrate the real energetic, ecological and economic potential of this system

The Extracellular Vesicle Citrullinome and Signature in a Piglet Model of Neonatal Seizures

Neonatal seizures are commonly associated with acute perinatal brain injury, while understanding regarding the downstream molecular pathways related to seizures remains unclear. Furthermore, effective treatment and reliable biomarkers are still lacking. Post-translational modifications can contribute to changes in protein function, and post-translational citrullination, which is caused by modification of arginine to citrulline via the calcium-mediated activation of the peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) enzyme family, is being increasingly linked to neurological injury. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-bilayer structures released from cells; they can be isolated from most body fluids and act as potential liquid biomarkers for disease conditions and response to treatment. As EVs carry a range of genetic and protein cargo that can be characteristic of pathological processes, the current study assessed modified citrullinated protein cargo in EVs isolated from plasma and CSF in a piglet neonatal seizure model, also following phenobarbitone treatment. Our findings provide novel insights into roles for PAD-mediated changes on EV signatures in neonatal seizures and highlight the potential of plasma- and CSF-EVs to monitor responses to treatment

Melatonin reduces brain injury following inflammation-amplified hypoxia-ischemia in a translational newborn piglet study of neonatal encephalopathy

There is a need to develop therapies for neonatal encephalopathy (NE) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where the burden of disease is greatest and therapeutic hypothermia (HT) is not effective. We aimed to assess the efficacy of melatonin following inflammation-amplified hypoxia-ischaemia (IA-HI) in the newborn piglet. The IA-HI model accounts for the contribution of infection/inflammation in this setting and HT is not cytoprotective. We hypothesised that intravenous melatonin (5% ethanol, at 20 mg/kg over 2 h at 1 h after HI + 10 mg/kg/12 h between 24 and 60 h) is safe and associated with: (i) reduction in magnetic resonance spectroscopy lactate/N-acetylaspartate (MRS Lac/sNAA); (ii) preservation of phosphorus MRS phosphocreatine/phosphate exchange pool (PCr/Epp); (iii) improved aEEG/EEG recovery and (iv) cytoprotection on immunohistochemistry. Male and female piglets underwent IA-HI by carotid artery occlusion and reduction in FiO 2 to 6% at 4 h into Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide sensitisation (2 μg/kg bolus + 1 μg/kg/h over 12 h). At 1 h after IA-HI, piglets were randomised to HI-saline (n = 12) or melatonin (n = 11). There were no differences in insult severity between groups. Target melatonin levels (15-30 mg/L) were achieved within 3 h and blood ethanol levels were &lt;0.25 g/L. At 60 h, compared to HI-saline, melatonin was associated with a reduction of 0.197 log 10 units (95% CrI [-0.366, -0.028], Pr (sup) 98.8%) in basal-ganglia and thalamic Lac/NAA, and 0.257 (95% CrI [-0.676, 0.164], Pr (sup) 89.3%) in white matter Lac/NAA. PCr/Epp was higher in melatonin versus HI-saline (Pr (sup) 97.6%). Melatonin was associated with earlier aEEG/EEG recovery from 19 to 24 h (Pr (sup) 95.4%). Compared to HI-saline, melatonin was associated with increased NeuN+ cell density (Pr (sup) 99.3%) across five of eight regions and reduction in TUNEL-positive cell death (Pr (sup) 89.7%). This study supports the translation of melatonin to early-phase clinical trials. Melatonin is protective following IA-HI where HT is not effective. These data guide the design of future dose-escalation studies in the next phase of the translational pipeline. </p

Immediate remote ischemic postconditioning after hypoxia ischemia in piglets protects cerebral white matter but not grey matter

Remote ischemic postconditioning (RIPostC) is a promising therapeutic intervention whereby brief episodes of ischemia/reperfusion of one organ (limb) mitigate damage in another organ (brain) that has experienced severe hypoxia-ischemia. Our aim was to assess whether RIPostC is protective following cerebral hypoxia-ischemia in a piglet model of neonatal encephalopathy (NE) using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) biomarkers and immunohistochemistry. After hypoxia-ischemia (HI), 16 Large White female newborn piglets were randomized to: (i) no intervention (n = 8); (ii) RIPostC - with four, 10-min cycles of bilateral lower limb ischemia/reperfusion immediately after HI (n = 8). RIPostC reduced the hypoxic-ischemic-induced increase in white matter proton MRS lactate/N acetyl aspartate (p = 0.005) and increased whole brain phosphorus-31 MRS ATP (p = 0.039) over the 48 h after HI. Cell death was reduced with RIPostC in the periventricular white matter (p = 0.03), internal capsule (p = 0.002) and corpus callosum (p = 0.021); there was reduced microglial activation in corpus callosum (p = 0.001) and more surviving oligodendrocytes in corpus callosum (p = 0.029) and periventricular white matter (p = 0.001). Changes in gene expression were detected in the white matter at 48 h, including KATP channel and endothelin A receptor. Immediate RIPostC is a potentially safe and promising brain protective therapy for babies with NE with protection in white but not grey matter

The Extracellular Vesicle Citrullinome and Signature in a Piglet Model of Neonatal Seizures

Neonatal seizures are commonly associated with acute perinatal brain injury, while understanding regarding the downstream molecular pathways related to seizures remains unclear. Furthermore, effective treatment and reliable biomarkers are still lacking. Post-translational modifications can contribute to changes in protein function, and post-translational citrullination, which is caused by modification of arginine to citrulline via the calcium-mediated activation of the peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) enzyme family, is being increasingly linked to neurological injury. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-bilayer structures released from cells; they can be isolated from most body fluids and act as potential liquid biomarkers for disease conditions and response to treatment. As EVs carry a range of genetic and protein cargo that can be characteristic of pathological processes, the current study assessed modified citrullinated protein cargo in EVs isolated from plasma and CSF in a piglet neonatal seizure model, also following phenobarbitone treatment. Our findings provide novel insights into roles for PAD-mediated changes on EV signatures in neonatal seizures and highlight the potential of plasma- and CSF-EVs to monitor responses to treatment

Acute LPS sensitization and continuous infusion exacerbates hypoxic brain injury in a piglet model of neonatal encephalopathy.

Co-existing infection/inflammation and birth asphyxia potentiate the risk of developing neonatal encephalopathy (NE) and adverse outcome. In a newborn piglet model we assessed the effect of E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion started 4 h prior to and continued for 48 h after hypoxia on brain cell death and systemic haematological changes compared to LPS and hypoxia alone. LPS sensitized hypoxia resulted in an increase in mortality and in brain cell death (TUNEL positive cells) throughout the whole brain, and in the internal capsule, periventricular white matter and sensorimotor cortex. LPS alone did not increase brain cell death at 48 h, despite evidence of neuroinflammation, including the greatest increases in microglial proliferation, reactive astrocytosis and cleavage of caspase-3. LPS exposure caused splenic hypertrophy and platelet count suppression. The combination of LPS and hypoxia resulted in the highest and most sustained systemic white cell count increase. These findings highlight the significant contribution of acute inflammation sensitization prior to an asphyxial insult on NE illness severity