Physiological changes of the visual system during pregnancy

Въведение: Зрителният анализатор преминава през редица физиологични промени по време на бременността, които трябва да се познават, тъй като в повечето случаи са преходни и безобидни. Цел и задачи: Да разгледаме физиологичните промени на зрителния анализатор, които могат да възникнат във връзка с бременността. Методи и материали: Литературен обзор Резултати: Най-честите и категорични промени по време на бременността са намаляване на вътреочното налягане и влошаване характеристиките на слъзния филм. Документирани са намаляване чувствителността на роговицата и увеличаване на дебелината и кривината й, но резултатите са противоречиви. Промените в рефракцията са най-често в посока миопизация и загуба на акомодация. Заключение: Необходимо е познаването на влиянието на бременността върху зрението с цел избягване на ненужно лечение при физиологични промени. Ефектите на бременността върху зрителната система могат да бъдат още по-добре проучени и в контекста на съществуващи патологични очни състояния биха ни отворили нови врати в изучаването на етиологията, както и лечението на някои от тях.Introduction: Visual system goes through several physiological changes during pregnancy that should be recognized because in most cases they are harmless and reversible. Aims and tasks: To make a literature review of the physiological ocular changes, that can occur during pregnancy. Methods and materials: Literature review Results: The most often and definite changes during pregnancy are lowering of intraocular pressure as well worsening of tear ? lm quality. Many changes of the cornea are shown in different studies including decreasing of its sensitivity, increasing of its thickness and curvature. Often the results are contradictory. Changes in refraction are mainly in myopisation and loss of accommodation. Conclusion: We need to know the effects of pregnancy on vision in order to avoid unnecessary treatment when the changes are physiological. The effects of pregnancy on visual system need to be better investigated and in the context of an existing pathological state they could give us more information about the causes and treatment of some diseases

New method for determination of temperature in spallation reactions

We propose a new method for determination of temperature in spallation events. It is shown that temperature can be determined by applying the friction model of energy dissipation in participant-spectator model of a spallation process. First order estimate of temperature dependence of the participant zone on reaction Q-value is obtained from the Fermi gas model considerations. The heat diffusion process is also discussed

CUSTOMER PROFILES OF RETAIL FOOD OUTLETS IN THE EMERGING MARKET ECONOMY OF BULGARIA

The objective of this study was to identify profiles of consumers frequenting three types of food retail outlets- grocery stores, farmer markets, and street stalls- to purchase food in a transition economy in Bulgaria. This study estimated two-stage decision models to distinguish between the two decisions of choosing to shop at a particular outlet and how often to shop. Retail-outlet selection and shopping frequency were affected by different sets of sociodemographic characteristics. In particular, household income was a major factor influencing the selection of farmer markets and street stands, but had no effect on the selection of and shopping frequency at grocery stores.Consumer/Household Economics,

PENSIONERS AND FOOD INTAKE PATTERNS IN A TRANSITION ECONOMY

Using nationwide food consumption survey data collected in Bulgaria in 1997, this study examines how food intake patterns of the unemployed and pensioners differ from patterns of the employed. During transition, the unemployed and pensioners are particularly vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies and chronic diseases resulting from unbalanced and unhealthy diets as well as food shortage.transition, social welfare policy, food intake pattern, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

Einfluss des eingeatmeten Staubes, bei Verarbeitung des Eisen, auf die interstizialmuskulatur der isolierten Froschzunge

Na model-sistemu izoliranih pluća ispitivan je toksični utjecaj prašine koja se stvara pri obradi željeza. Osim ispitivanja suspenzije ukupne prašine, ispitivano je osam kemijski čistih, topljivih komponenata prašine aplicirane na alveolarnu i pleuralnu stranu. Pluća su ravnomjerno koaksijalna stimulirana a bio je ispitivan uzajamni utjecaj stimulacije i efekti supstanca. Prašina i posebno topljivi ioni metala, koji u obliku oksida dolaze kao njene glavne komponente, aplicirani na pleuralnu stranu dovode do spazma glatke muskulature izoliranih pluća i povećanja izazvanih kontrakcija. Ukoliko se spomenute supstance apliciraju na alveolarnu stranu, kako pri obavljanju posla obično dolazi u kontakt sa sluznicom, prašina iz krečane izaziva jak spazam a prašina iz koksare relaksaciju pluća. Od osam ispitivanih komponenata željezo i nikal redovito dovode do spazma a magnezij i mangan do relaksacije kada dođu u kontakt s alveolama pluća. Pri prosuđivanju djelovanja raznih prašina treba voditi računa ne samo o njihovom djelovanju kao faktoru pneumokonioza nego i o njihovom akutnom farmakološkom efektu.Die toxische Wirkung des Staubes, der sich während der Eisenverarbeitung bildet, wurde an isolierter Lunge die als Modell-System diente untersucht. Neben der Untersuchung der gesamten Staubsuspension, wurden auch einige (8) an die alveolare und pleurale Seite applizierte chemisch-reine Staubkomponenten untersucht. Die Lunge wurde gleichmässig koaxial stimuliert und der Einfluss der Stimulation und der Substanzeffekte geprüft. Der Staub und besonders seine Hauptkomponenten die, an pleuraler Seite appliziert wurden, führten einerseits zum Spasmus der glatten Muskulatur der isolierten Lunge und andererseits zur Vergrösserung der herbeigeführten Kontraktionen. Wenn die genannten Substanzen an die alveolare Seite appliziert wurden, rufte der Staub der Kalkgrube (Kreöana) einen starken Spasmus hervor, weil der Staub aus der »Kokerei« (Koksara) eine Relaxation der Lunge herbei führte. Von acht geprüften Komponenten Eisen und Nickel führen, in der Regel, zum Spasmus, und Magnesium und Mangan zur Relaxation wenn sie mit den Lungenalveolen in Kontakt kommen. Bei der Beurteilung der Wirkung verschiedener Staube muss man nicht nur von ihrer Wirkung als Faktor der Pneumokoniose Rechnung führen, sondern auch von ihren akuten pharmakologischen Effekt

Multifunctional Cotton Impregnated with Multilayer Chitosan/Lignin Nanocoating and Ag Nanoparticles

he demand for clothes with antimicrobial and UV protective properties is continually growing. In an attempt to develop a simple and efficient treatment for cotton fabrics, layer-by-layer deposition of chitosan and magnesium lignosulfonate followed by in situ synthesis of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) was performed. Magnesium lignosulfonate acts as a stabilizing agent and UV blocker while NaBH4 is applied as a reducing agent. The influence of the number of bilayers (4 and 12) and the initial concentration of AgNO3 solution (10 mM and 20 mM) on UV protection factor (UPF) and antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Grampositive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and yeast Candida albicans was studied. The presence of nanocoating on the surface of cotton fabric is confirmed by FTIR and XPS analyses. XPS and FESEM analyses reveal a successful synthesis of Ag NPs on the surface of cotton fibers with an average dimension of 35 nm. A four bilayer coating is sufficient to reach maximum 50+ UV protection. Maximum reduction of all investigated microorganisms is achieved with 12 bilayers and application of 20 mM AgNO3 solution

Pulse-Shape discrimination with the Counting Test Facility

Pulse shape discrimination (PSD) is one of the most distinctive features of liquid scintillators. Since the introduction of the scintillation techniques in the field of particle detection, many studies have been carried out to characterize intrinsic properties of the most common liquid scintillator mixtures in this respect. Several application methods and algorithms able to achieve optimum discrimination performances have been developed. However, the vast majority of these studies have been performed on samples of small dimensions. The Counting Test Facility, prototype of the solar neutrino experiment Borexino, as a 4 ton spherical scintillation detector immersed in 1000 tons of shielding water, represents a unique opportunity to extend the small-sample PSD studies to a large-volume setup. Specifically, in this work we consider two different liquid scintillation mixtures employed in CTF, illustrating for both the PSD characterization results obtained either with the processing of the scintillation waveform through the optimum Gatti's method, or via a more conventional approach based on the charge content of the scintillation tail. The outcomes of this study, while interesting per se, are also of paramount importance in view of the expected Borexino detector performances, where PSD will be an essential tool in the framework of the background rejection strategy needed to achieve the required sensitivity to the solar neutrino signals.Comment: 39 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth.