Specific Issues of Urban Sprawl in Bulgaria

The first conclusion is, no doubt, that processes of urban sprawl have emerged in Bulgaria during the last couple of decades and already have changed the suburban patterns in the outskirts of Sofia. This is a simple, but critically important conclusion, because so far Bulgarian planners have underestimated this threat and, even, have failed to identify it. The main reasons for this omission were due to lack of experience with similar problems and, mainly, to specific traditions relating to comparatively high, though typical European densities and compact urban forms. Yet, due to its unplanned nature and scattered forms, sprawl always generates un- sustainable urban processes. All facts and findings of previous studies and the present one confirm the second main conclusion that, undoubtedly, Sofia suburbanisation pattern is of Western type, so it is characterized by a number of associated problems and issues like overconsumption of land, inefficient use of infrastructure and other resources. At the same time, Bulgarian sprawl in many aspects is shaped by local traditions established in the course of centuries and (especially, the 20th century) by the specific historical development – both socio-economic and urban. Sofia’s new suburbs are more compact than typical Western suburbs and they are characterized by higher densities and higher levels of social mix and mix of uses. Eventually, the third main conclusion is that suburbanisation around Sofia and around other big cities in the country is speeding up and, thus, Bulgarian sprawl turns closer to the Western patterns. This means that policy measures are already needed to avoid associated problems, especially in view of the insufficient land resources of Bulgaria. Apparently, all these issues should be subject to thorough and in depth studies as next steps of research in this area in order to elaborate efficient instruments of relevant policies

Vortex solitons in dispersive nonlinear Kerr type media

We have investigated the nonlinear amplitude vector equation governing the evolution of optical pulses in optical and UV region. We are normalizing this equation for the cases of different and equal transverse and longitudinal size of optical pulses, of week and strong dispersion. This gives us the possibility to reduce the amplitude equation to different nonlinear evolution equations in the partial cases. For some of these nonlinear equations exact vortex solutions are found. Conditions for experimental observations of these vortices are determined.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures, Late

EFFECT OF PHYTOHAEMAGGLUTININ PHASEOLOSAXIN ON THE LIFE CYCLE OF PARAMECIUM CAUDATUM

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ACTIVATION OF PHAGOCYTOSIS IN VITRO WITH FRACTIONS OF FASEOLOSAXIN

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PHYTOHEMAGGLUTININ EFFECT ON THE ELETROPHORETIC MOTILITY OF ERYTROCYTES

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Guidelines for assessing favourable conservation status of Natura 2000 species and habitat types in Bulgaria

This executive summary describes the methodology for assessing the favourable conservation status of N2000 habitats and species on site level in Bulgaria and gives guidelines for its application. The methodology was developed in the frame of the BBI/Matra project 2006/014 “Favourable Conservation Status of Natura 2000 Habitat types and Species in Bulgaria”. The project was generously supported by the Dutch government under the BBI/Matra programme, which is a combination of two international policy programs of the Dutch government. The objectives and financial resources of the BBI/Matra Programme fall within the remit of the Matra Social Transformation Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and under the International Policy Program on Biodiversity of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality

STUDY OF HEAT SHOCK PROTEINS IN THALASSAEMIC PATIENTS

When cells are exposed to a variety of stimuli, there is increased expression of stress or heat shock proteins, a major representative of which is hsp70. The objective of the present work was to investigate the endogenous expression of hsp70 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and erythrocytes of patients suffering from b-thalassaemia and to correlate hsp70 levels with patients' antioxidant status. Blood samples were obtained from thalassaemia major patients aged 16-24 years. Hsp70 was identified with a mouse monoclonal anti-human hsp70 antibodies using the Western blot procedure. The total antioxidant status was determined by means of a commercial kit of RANDOX. It was established that: i) Hsp70 levels were low in mononuclear cells, ii) Hsp70 was not appreciably induced by incubation at 43°C, Hi) in erythrocytes, however, there was a marked endogenous expression ofhsp70 - thalassaemics express more hsp70 than control subjects, iv) the antioxidant status of thalassaemics was by about 20 % less than the control one. The increased endogenous hsp70 in thalassaemic erythrocytes was consistent with the hypothesis that the elevated levels of denaturated globins induced the expression of stress proteins during erythopoiesis. We are currently investigating whether there is a correlation between the severity of the clinical symptoms and hsp70 levels

CLINICAL AND NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATION IN PATIENTS WITH ISCHAEMIC CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE

The aim of this study is to objectify the functional state of the brain in Ctnegative cases with clinical diagnosis of acute cerebrovascular disease (CVD). The CT scan, cerebral SPECT, brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) and EEG with quantitative analysis (qEEG) were performed in 20 patients with ischaemic CVD. Of them, 6 were with transitory ischaemic attack (TIA), 8 with ischaemic stroke (IS) in the territory of the middle cerebral artery and 6 with brainstem infarction (BI). The zones with increased slow-wave activity described by the brain maps showed a good correlation (r=0,47) with the revealed decreased radiotracer uptake. The investigation of brain perfusion by SPECT alone cannot objectify the brainstem stroke. In these cases, the data from BAEP can help the topical diagnosis. Our results confirm the clinical importance of the qEEG for diagnosis of acute CVD, especially in relation with other electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods

The changing roles of planning and the market in the processes of urban growth in Belgrade and Sofia

This paper studies the changing roles of planning and the market in the context of urban growth and suburbanization in the capitals of Serbia and Bulgaria, specifically with regard to the socio-economic changes experienced in Southeast Europe over the past decades. With a focus on the post-socialist period, the work also examines specific features of the socialist period, so as to make important distinctions between the two. The research question in this paper is: Is planning or the market responsible for the form of growth that has occurred in Sofia and Belgrade? One methodological problem for the study is that in reality, most urban processes are to a degree both market driven and centrally planned. Thus, it can be difficult to distinguish between the distinct roles and outcomes of planning and the market. To solve this problem, the paper analyzes situations in which either planning or the market is dominant, so as to be able to clearly determine the impact of each mechanism on the resultant development. The paper concludes that urban growth and suburbanization are generally engendered by market forces, whereas the role of planning is to improve and refine the action of the market. When planning ignores the market, it results in failed or inefficient urban forms. However when planning is absent, urban development fails to meet reasonable standards