Ancient coastlines of the Black Sea and conditions for human presence – Black Sea expedition 2011

Project DO 02-337, an expedition on the RV Akademik, took place during June 2011 with financial support from the Bulgarian Science Fund. The location for this expedition was the Western Black Sea. 17 core and 8 grapple organic seabed samples were taken. The initial core samples were extracted from the submerged shorelines with subsequent ones taken from deeper water. So submerged shoreline was mapped, samples for dating, isotope analysis and pollen sampling were taken.Проект ДО 02-337, експедиція у східну частину Чорного моря на н/с «Академік» відбулася в червні 2011 року за фінансової підтримки Болгарського наукового фонду. Відібрано 17 проб трубкою і 8 проб драгою. Зразки відбиралися із затопленої берегової лінії, відібрано зразки для датування, ізотопного і пилкового аналізів.Проект ДО 02-337, экспедиция в восточную часть Черного моря на н/с «Академик» состоялась в июне 2011 г. при финансовой поддержке Болгарского научного фонда. Отобраны 17 проб трубкой и 8 проб драгой. Образцы отбирались из затопленной береговой линии, отобраны образцы для датирования, изотопного и пыльцевого анализов

Effect of Systemic Hypertension With Versus Without Left Ventricular Hypertrophy on the Progression of Atrial Fibrillation (from the Euro Heart Survey).

Hypertension is a risk factor for both progression of atrial fibrillation (AF) and development of AF-related complications, that is major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). It is unknown whether left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) as a consequence of hypertension is also a risk factor for both these end points. We aimed to assess this in low-risk AF patients, also assessing gender-related differences. We included 799 patients from the Euro Heart Survey with nonvalvular AF and a baseline echocardiogram. Patients with and without hypertension were included. End points after 1 year were occurrence of AF progression, that is paroxysmal AF becoming persistent and/or permanent AF, and MACCE. Echocardiographic LVH was present in 33% of 379 hypertensive patients. AF progression after 1 year occurred in 10.2% of 373 patients with rhythm follow-up. In hypertensive patients with LVH, AF progression occurred more frequently as compared with hypertensive patients without LVH (23.3% vs 8.8%, p = 0.011). In hypertensive AF patients, LVH was the most important multivariably adjusted determinant of AF progression on multivariable logistic regression (odds ratio 4.84, 95% confidence interval 1.70 to 13.78, p = 0.003). This effect was only seen in male patients (27.5% vs 5.8%, p = 0.002), while in female hypertensive patients, no differences were found in AF progression rates regarding the presence or absence of LVH (15.2% vs 15.0%, p = 0.999). No differences were seen in MACCE for hypertensive patients with and without LVH. In conclusion, in men with hypertension, LVH is associated with AF progression. This association seems to be absent in hypertensive women

Progression From Paroxysmal to Persistent Atrial Fibrillation. Clinical Correlates and Prognosis

Objectives: We investigated clinical correlates of atrial fibrillation (AF) progression and evaluated the prognosis of patients demonstrating AF progression in a large population. Background: Progression of paroxysmal AF to more sustained forms is frequently seen. However, not all patients will progress to persistent AF. Methods: We included 1,219 patients with paroxysmal AF who participated in the Euro Heart Survey on AF and had a known rhythm status at follow-up. Patients who experienced AF progression after 1 year of follow-up were identified. Results: Progression of AF occurred in 178 (15%) patients. Multivariate analysis showed that heart failure, age, previous transient ischemic attack or stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypertension were the only independent predictors of AF progression. Using the regression coefficient as a benchmark, we calculated the HATCH score. Nearly 50% of the patients with a HATCH score >5 progressed to persistent AF compared with only 6% of the patients with a HATCH score of 0. During follow-up, patients with AF progression were more often admitted to the hospital and had more major adverse cardiovascular events. Conclusions: A substantial number of patients progress to sustained AF within 1 year. The clinical outcome of these patients regarding hospital admissions and major adverse cardiovascular events was worse compared with patients demonstrating no AF progression. Factors known to cause atrial structural remodeling (age and underlying heart disease) were independent predictors of AF progression. The HATCH score may help to identify patients who are likely to progress to sustained forms of AF in the near future. \ua9 2010 American College of Cardiology Foundation

Theoretical analysis of the heat energy savings in wood pellets production

Abstract. The report includes a theoretical analysis of the heat energy savings in the drying of wood biomass with desiccant fumes. With the current technological schemes for drying wood pellets most heat is lost with the exhaust fumes.To use the heat of exhaust fumes it is propose to utilize these by a heat exchanger recuperator type, which transfers part of the heat of the exhaust gas to the fresh air entering the dryer installation. Thus, about 25% of the heat for drying biomass can be saved. The report examines the relationship between outdoor temperature and condensation of moisture from the exhaust gases on the relative share of energy saved using a heat exchanger

Analysis of the technological dairy cows traffic "to and from" herringbone milking parlors

Abstract. The aim of this study was to analyze the behavioral responses of milked cows and throughput performance of a herringbone milking parlor of capacity 2x10. For this purpose, 120 cows, of which about 100 milked, housed in an existing undivided compost bedded-pack barn (manure with minimum straw tilled on a daily basis), were investigated. Cows were milked three times per day in a 30-degree 2 x 10 herringbone parlor. A real-time monitoring system was designed, developed and installed to obtain the required information. A steady trend of difference between entrance and exit routines in cows from the left and right platform of the milking parlor was found. The most likely reason is the difference in illumination between the two milking platforms, and also direction of the exit traffic. Groups of cows who turned at 180˚ had longer exit time, irrespective of the shorter distance covered. Milking duration within the range of the three milkings showed a clearly defined rate. Morning milking was of the shortest duration, although the one-time absolute milk yield is the highest in the morning. The most likely explanation for it is the higher oxytocin release in the early hours of the day as a result of the reduced impact of the surrounding stress factor. Often cows from the left platform would come into contact with those from the right platform and delay movement to the selection gate. Therefore, an optically impenetrable barrier would be required to be installed on the gat

Study on energy flows of renewable sources for producing hot water on dairy farms

Abstract. A system for producing hot water in three dairy farms has been designed and built. It consists of three modules of renewable energy sources - solar thermal installation, heating boiler on wood pellets and recuperative unit for utilizing heat from the milked milk. For storage of the heated water two thermal ° batteries are used. One of the thermal batteries is a low temperature one (40 С) and is designed to utilize energy from milk, the other one is high-temperature ° (80 С) and is designed to accumulate solar energy and energy from the pellet boiler. The year-round operation of the system on three different farms has been examined. For every month results were obtained about the relative share of each of the renewable energies. Each system produces annually respectively 11273 kWh, 13668 kWh and 10244 kWh of energy to heat water. The share of solar energy is between 34.7 – 43.0% in annual terms, in summer it reaches 85- 95%. The share of energy from pellets per year is 52 – 57%, in winter it reaches 65 – 96%, while the share of utilized energy from milked milk averaged 9.5% annuall

Saved СО 2 emissions by using renewable sources for hot water yield in Bulgarian dairy farms

Abstract. In 2014 – 2015 installations for hot water yield from renewable energy sources were built and tested in three dairy farms in Bulgaria. These replace the traditionally used electricity on farms with the aim of decarbonising the energy production. The newly built installations contain three modules for heat yield – from recuperation of the heat from the milked milk, from the solar energy and from wood pellets. In the course of one year the energy obtained from the renewable sources has been measured and assessed. The present article assesses the ecological benefits of the separate renewable sources which are used to reduce СО2 emissions, the main greenhouse gas. For this purpose, the method of environmental life cycle analysis (LCA) and assessment of heat/hot water generating systems was used. Coefficients for calculating the primary energy of the saved or replaced energy, as well as their respective carbon ratios, specific for Bulgaria, were used. The results obtained are related to identifying the specific quantities of saved CO2 emissions from the renewable sources used on the experimental farms. It has been found that about 52-57% of CO2 savings are due to the pellets used, 34-42% to the solar heat collectors and about 9% to the recuperated heat from the produced milk

Bulgaria: sea-level change and submerged settlements on the Black Sea

The Black Sea is recognised as having great potential for the preservation of submerged prehistoric sites because of the large area of land exposed on the continental shelf at lowest sea levels, especially along its western and north-western coastlines. However, very few have been discovered to date, and those that are known are located in Bulgaria. Because of the complexities associated with the periodic isolation of the Black Sea from the Mediterranean and its reconnection, offshore research has tended to focus on geological and geophysical investigation of inundation history, with unresolved and strongly-held disagreements about the timing and rapidity of sea level rise at the end of the Last Glacial and its potential human impact. In Bulgaria, a rich concentration of underwater prehistoric sites has been discovered thanks to dredging activities earlier in the 20th century and a long tradition of underwater archaeological investigations going back to the 1970s. These demonstrate the presence of substantial in situ village settlements of Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age date in shallow water (< 10 m), with excellent preservation of large ceramic assemblages, wooden structures, and faunal and palynological data on palaeodiet and palaeoeconomy. More recently, large scale marine-geological and archaeological projects have begun, aimed at integrating shallow-water inshore investigations with offshore survey in deeper water

Abstracts of the 20th annual meeting of the association `Heart - Lung` and 2nd „Varna - Augsburg` conference 30-31 may 2014

Primary tumours of the heart are rare. Metastases are the most frequent tumours of the heart. Anyway, it is generallyagreed that autopsy prevalence of primary cardiac tumors is 1 out of 2,000 and that of secondary cardiactumors is 1 out of 100 autopsies, with a secondary/primary cardiac tumors ratio of 20:1. Cardiac tumors may occurin any cardiac tissue. They can cause valvular or inflow-outflow tract obstruction, thromboembolism, arrhythmias,or pericardial disorders. Symptoms are very variable and can be the result of either local or systemiceffects. Surgery is successful for benign tumours when adequate resection margins are allowed. A number of imagingmodalities are available for the assessment of cardiac tumours; each has advantages and limitations. Thisreport presents our experience in the treatment of tumors of the hear