Social determinants of infectious diseases in diverse age groups in Varna region, Bulgaria

During the first years as a member to the European Union the healthcare system of Republic of Bulgaria faced many challenges: declining demographic tendencies, poverty with notice ably expressed age dimensions and limited resources for health care. The aim of this study is to reveal some social determinants and risk factors in the vulnerable groups of elderly people and breast-fed infants with communicable diseases. Specially designed questionnaires were used to study the socioeconomic and other risk factors in patients over 60 years and mothers accompanying their infants with infectious diseases. Analyses of the demographic indicators of Varna region and disease incidence correspond to the trends of the national level. Infectious diseases most commonly observed among the aged population are shigelloses, salmonelloses and other gastroenterites, mediterranean spotted fever, lymeborreliosis, acute viral hepatitis and neuroinfections. Gastroenteritesin breast-fed infants are the most common cause for hospitalization.The risk factors influencing patients of 60+ suffering from infectious diseases are poverty, unhealthy and inadequate nutrition, smoking, alcohol consumption, insuf icient physical activity and high levels of stress. Socially significant in communicable diseases are the common terrain on which the infectious process takes place. Risk factors influencing infants with infectious diseases are similar and sometimes derived from the factors influencing the adult population. More detailed and wider span studies of the social determinants of comunicable diseases in Bulgaria are needed to estimate the situation in other risk groups.Scripta Scientifica Medica 2010;42(2):115-12

Relativistic Jets in the Radio Reference Frame Image Database. I. Apparent Speeds from the First 5 Years of Data

We present the results of an analysis of relativistic jet apparent speeds from VLBI images in the Radio Reference Frame Image Database (RRFID). The images are snapshot VLBI images at 8 and 2 GHz using the VLBA, plus up to 10 additional antennas that provide global VLBI coverage. We have analyzed the 8 GHz images from the first 5 years of the database (1994-1998), for all sources observed at three or more epochs during this time range. This subset comprises 966 images of 87 sources. The sources in this subset have an average of 11 epochs of observation over the years 1994-1998, with the best-observed sources having 19 epochs. About half of the sources in this RRFID kinematic survey have not been previously studied with multiepoch VLBI observations. We have measured apparent speeds for a total of 184 jet components in 77 sources, of which the best-measured 94 component speeds in 54 sources are used in the final analysis. The apparent speed distribution shows a peak at low apparent speeds (consistent with stationary components), a tail extending out to apparent speeds of about 30c, and a mean apparent speed of 3.6c. A total of 36 of the sources in this paper are also included in the 2 cm VLBA survey by Kellermann et al., with similar angular resolution, sensitivity, and time range. For those sources, we present a detailed component-by-component comparison of the apparent speeds measured by the 2 cm survey and those measured in this paper. Many of the independent apparent speed measurements agree very well, but for approximately 25% of the components we find significant differences in the apparent speeds measured by the two surveys. The leading cause of these discrepancies is differences in how the two surveys have identified jet components from epoch to epoch

PECULIARITIES OF THE EPIDEMIC PROCESS OF EPIDEMIC PAROTITIS UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF MASS IMMUNOPROPHYLAXIS

Some specific features of the mumps epidemic process under the conditions of mass immunoprevention were analyzed. Incidence rates were higher when there was a remoteness of the primary immunization by live parotitis vaccine. Certain opportunities for amending the epidemic control with this vaccine to avoid infection were emphasized

Opportunistic screening for hypertension in the general population in Bulgaria: international society of hypertension may measurement month campaign

Cardiovascular diseases are not only the leading causes of mortality in Bulgaria but also the mortality rate is twice as high as the European Union average, so screening programmes identifying subjects with elevated blood pressure (BP) are of utmost importance. May Measurement Month (MMM) is an annual global initiative of the International Society of hypertension that began in 2017 aimed at raising awareness of high BP. Bulgaria joined the 3rd campaign of MMM in 2019 and an overview of the results of Bulgarian participation are presented in this paper. Hypertension was defined as systolic BP ≥ 140 mm Hg and diastolic BP ≥ 90 mm Hg or treatment for hypertension, statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. In Bulgaria, 150 screening points were set up in primary and secondary care facilities, in pharmacies, and outdoor spaces across 21 administrative districts. Out of 3678 individuals screened, 2587 participants (70.3%) had hypertension. Of 2896 participants with hypertension, 35.6% had controlled BP. Out of 1760 participants not on antihypertensive medication, 669 (38%) had elevated BP. In the case of treated individuals (n = 1918), 997 (52%) had uncontrolled hypertension. In the untreated cohort, every 4th subject had elevated BP, whilst among patients on antihypertensive medication, every second had uncontrolled BP, the worst results in terms of diagnosis and treatment are observed in men. By identifying almost two-third of the whole screened cohort with the possibility of newly diagnosed or uncontrolled hypertension, our results confirm the importance of BP screening campaigns

Isolation and primary identification of shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli O157 in dairy cattle

During the last years, the significance of diseases associated etiologically to Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is continuously increasing at a global scale, while the O157 serotype is con-sidered as one of the most important pathogens of animal origin. Large ruminants play a key role in the epidemiology of E. coli diseases among men. Bovine faeces are a primary source of contamina-tion of the environment and foods with this agent. The purpose of this study was to test a specific, microbiological algorithm for primary identification of STEC isolates from bovine faeces using sorbi-tol McConkey agar supplemented with cefixime and tellurite. The attempts were focused not only on increasing the sensitivity and specificity of serotype identification, but also on optimisation of labour and analysis costs. From May 2013 to October 2014, a total number of 1104 faecal swab samples from calves 3 to 6 months of age were collected from 19 farms in different administrative and geo-graphical regions of Bulgaria. Thirty six sorbitol-negative E. coli isolates (3.26%) were detected as belonging to the O157 serotype after slide agglutination test

Chinese-chi and Kundalini yoga Meditations Effects on the Autonomic Nervous System: Comparative Study

Cardiac disease is one of the major causes for death all over the world. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a significant parameter that used in assessing Autonomous Nervous System (ANS) activity. Generally, the 2D Poincare′ plot and 3D Poincaré plot of the HRV signals reflect the effect of different external stimuli on the ANS. Meditation is one of such external stimulus, which has different techniques with different types of effects on the ANS. Chinese Chi-meditation and Kundalini yoga are two different effective meditation techniques. The current work is interested with the analysis of the HRV signals under the effect of these two based on meditation techniques. The 2D and 3D Poincare′ plots are generally plotted by fitting respectively an ellipse/ellipsoid to the dense region of the constructed Poincare′ plot of HRV signals. However, the 2D and 3D Poincaré plots sometimes fail to describe the proper behaviour of the system. Thus in this study, a three-dimensional frequency-delay plot is proposed to properly distinguish these two famous meditation techniques by analyzing their effects on ANS. This proposed 3D frequency-delay plot is applied on HRV signals of eight persons practicing same Chi-meditation and four other persons practising same Kundalini yoga. To substantiate the result for larger sample of data, statistical Student t-test is applied, which shows a satisfactory result in this context. The experimental results established that the Chi-meditation has large impact on the HRV compared to the Kundalini yoga

Confirmation of Soluble Sulfate at the Phoenix Landing Site: Implications for Martian Geochemistry and Habitability

Over the past several decades, elemental sulfur in martian soils and rocks has been detected by a number of missions using X-ray spectroscopy [1-3]. Optical spectroscopy has also provided evidence for widespread sulfates on Mars [4,5]. The ubiquitous presence of sulfur in soils has been interpreted as a widely distributed sulfate mineralogy [6]. However, direct confirmation as to the identity and solubility of the sulfur species in martian soil has never been obtained. One goal of the Wet Chemistry Laboratory (WCL) [7] on board the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander [8] was to determine soluble sulfate in the martian soil. The WCL received three primary samples. Each sample was added to 25 mL of leaching solution and analysed for solvated ionic species, pH, and conductivity [9,10]. The analysis also showed a discrepancy between charge balance, ionic strength, and conductivity, suggesting unidentified anionic species

Influence of Matrix Polarity on the Properties of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate–Carbon Nanofiller Nanocomposites

A series of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) nanocomposites using four kinds of EVA with 40, 50, 60, and 70 wt% vinyl acetate (VA) contents and three different carbon-based nanofillers—expanded graphite (EG), multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT), and carbon nanofiber (CNF) have been prepared via solution blending. The influence of the matrix polarity and the nature of nanofillers on the morphology and properties of EVA nanocomposites have been investigated. It is observed that the sample with lowest vinyl acetate content exhibits highest mechanical properties. However, the enhancement in mechanical properties with the incorporation of various nanofillers is the highest for EVA with high VA content. This trend has been followed in both dynamic mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites. EVA copolymer undergoes a transition from partial to complete amorphousness between 40 and 50 wt% VA content, and this changes the dispersion of the nanofillers. The high VA-containing polymers show more affinity toward fillers due to the large free volume available and allow easy dispersion of nanofillers in the amorphous rubbery phase, as confirmed from the morphological studies. The thermal stability of the nanocomposites is also influenced by the type of nanofiller