Przygotowanie specjalistów z zakresu turyzmu na Uniwersytecie Sofijskim

Gwałtowny rozwój turystyki w Bułgarii wymagał przygotowania wysoko kwalifikowanych kadr z wyższym w ykształceniem. Kształcenie takie rozpoczęto W 1965 r. w Wyższym Instytucie Ekonomicznym w Warnie w zakresie ekonomiki i organizacji turystyki, a od 1967 r. w zakresie geografii na Uniwersytecie Sofijskim. Specjalistów od turystyki przygotowuje także Wyższy Instytut Kultury Fizycznej oraz dwie szkoły typu półwyższego w Burgas i Warnie. W roku 1973 na Wydziale Geologiczno-Geograficznym Uniwersytetu Sofijskiego powołano samodzielną Katedrę Geografii Turyzmu, która prowadzi specjalizacyjne studia w zakiesie geografii turyzmu

Key Problems and Gaps in the EU Funds Absorption for Heritage Attractions Development: the Case of Bulgaria

Heritage tourism has always been considered an important part of Bulgarian tourism portfolio and a significant regional development driver. It is officially set as a priority in a number of strategic documents at a national, regional and local level. Substantial financial resources for heritage socialization have been allocated after the accession of the country to the EU in 2007. A special scheme for tourism attractions development was implemented within the Operational Program “Regional Development” (OPRD) 2007-2013, with approved funding for a total of 120 heritage sites throughout the country. Yet, the EU funded projects have raised a fierce public debate regarding the delicate balance between heritage commodification and conservation as well as the disputable costs and benefits in terms of heritage protection, tourism development and its regional impacts. Based on the understanding that attractions are the core element of a competitive tourism product, the paper presents a brief review of the OPRD 2007-2013 supported projects and analyzes the experience gained in the process of projects’ selection and implementation.

Influence of Yoga Practices on Stress Coping Strategies

Stress coping strategies are used every day. By choosing a different coping style, people seek solution to a complicated task or situation. One of the reliable forms of motor activity, which influences favorably the development of valuable psychic and physical qualities, is yoga. The aim of the research is to determine the positive effect of yoga practices on stress coping strategies. The research was done among 76 women - 42 of them practice yoga in different clubs of the Bulgarian Yoga Federation and yoga students at NSA “Vassil Levski” – experimental group; and control group consisting of 34 women not engaged in any kind of sport or motor activity. The stress coping strategies were evaluated with the questionnaire СОРЕ-1, (Carver, C, & Scheier, M. 1985), adapted for Bulgarian conditions by A. Rusinova-Hristova and G. Karastoyanov (2000). Results show that the first seven stress coping strategies have approximately equal values with the control group. The passive strategies, related to emotion-focused coping with the problem, are dominant. In this case, the structure of the stress coping strategies with the women not engaged in sport is more imperfect than the one with the women practicing yoga.  The arrangement of the leading stress coping strategies, as well as the reliable differences with six of the strategies (43% of all 14 strategies) in favor of the EG is indicative of more harmonious and more perfect structure of the preferred stress coping strategies with women practicing yoga. Conclusion: The leading stress coping strategies with women not engaged in sport are passive. They experience greater difficulty in solving their problems in stressful situations. The leading strategies with women practicing yoga are active. The researched individuals react immediately in stressful situations, concentrate on the problem and actively cope with it. Keywords: Stress coping strategies, yoga, motor activity

ANEMIC SYNDROME ASSOCIATED TO PARVOVIRUS B19 INFECTION IN PATHOLOGY PREGNANCY WOMEN

Viral infections during pregnancy on a world scale are one of the main reasons for severe complications and mortality of the mother and fetus. The post-infectious anemic syndrome is characterized by low serum iron and increased hepcidin, which is the cause for iron accumulation in the endothelial macrophage system and iron deficiency for the needs of erythropoiesis. Probably the increased hepcidin plays a protective role against the growth of microorganisms by reducing extracellular iron. On the other hand, the increased hepcidin may lead to iron deficiency and to inability for effective compensation upon oral supplementation because it suppressed intestinal iron absorption. This study aims to determine the involvement of parvovirus B19 in the anemic syndrome development in the course of/during pathological pregnancy. Materials and Methods: In total 47 serum samples of pregnant women with anemia hospitalized in University Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital “Maichin Dom”,were tested. Three newborn babies were also included in the study. Serological (ELISA), molecular (PCR), and immunological (CLIA) methods were used. The statistical processing of the results is based on paired Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation. Results and discussion: 9/47 (19.1%) of patients showed presence of B19V-IgM antibodies. B19-IgG antibodies were detected in 19/47 (40.4%) women. The PCR analysis showed presence of viral DNA in all patients with positive B19V-IgM antibodies. B19V-IgM antibodies were proved in one of the newborn and viral DNA was detected. All three babies were positive for B19V-IgG antibodies. In four of the positive patients with the three diagnostic markers for acute infection, the anemia was determined as iron-deficiency according to the low serum levels of hepcidin 2.54 ± 0.4 μg/L compared to control group of pregnant women without anemia (21.7 ± 3.1 μg/L: P<0.001). In the remaining women with a proven acute B19V infection, we found a statistically significant increased level of serum hepcidin (65.3 ± 5.7 μg/L; P<0.001) compared to non anemic pregnant women. Conclusion: Assessment of the frequency and the grade of involvement of parvovirus B19 in the anemic syndrome development during pregnancy and determination of the serum level of hepcidin would contribute to the etiological clarification of the occurred anemic syndrome and would prevent improper iron supplementation by pregnant women

Association Study between Idiopathic Scoliosis and Polymorphic Variants of VDR, IGF-1, and AMPD1 Genes

Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) is a complex genetic disorder of the musculoskeletal system, characterized by three-dimensional rotation of the spine with unknown etiology. For the aims of the current study we selected 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms with a low incidence of the polymorphic allele in Bulgarian population, AMPD1 (rs17602729), VDR (rs2228670), and IGF-1 (rs5742612), trying to investigate the association between these genetic polymorphisms and susceptibility to and progression of IS. The polymorphic regions of the genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were cleaved with the appropriate restriction enzymes. The statistical analysis was performed by Pearson&apos;s chi-squared test. A value of &lt; 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. In conclusion, this case-control study revealed no statistically significant association between the VDR, IGF-1, and AMPD1 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to IS or curve severity in Bulgarian patients. Replication case-control studies will be needed to examine the association between these candidate-genes and IS in different populations. The identification of molecular markers for IS could be useful for early detection and prognosis of the risk for a rapid progression of the curve. That would permit early stage treatment of the patient with the least invasive procedures

Alignment of the CMS silicon tracker during commissioning with cosmic rays

The CMS silicon tracker, consisting of 1440 silicon pixel and 15 148 silicon strip detector modules, has been aligned using more than three million cosmic ray charged particles, with additional information from optical surveys. The positions of the modules were determined with respect to cosmic ray trajectories to an average precision of 3-4 microns RMS in the barrel and 3-14 microns RMS in the endcap in the most sensitive coordinate. The results have been validated by several studies, including laser beam cross-checks, track fit self-consistency, track residuals in overlapping module regions, and track parameter resolution, and are compared with predictions obtained from simulation. Correlated systematic effects have been investigated. The track parameter resolutions obtained with this alignment are close to the design performance

Evolution of Tourist Regionalization in Bulgaria: Objectives, Approaches and Results

The issue of defining tourist regions in Bulgaria and their management has been discussed in the country over the last 50 years and is still relevant nowadays. So far, many attempts have been made to develop an acceptable solution in regards of the nature, functions and scope of the tourist regions in the country but for a number of reasons and in different political and economic context they have not been successful. At the same time, the need for tourist regionalization in Bulgaria has been recognized by almost all stakeholders in the tourism sector over the last 10-15 years. The aim of this article is to review and compare the existing tourist regionalization schemes of the country, thus allowing to trace the evolution of tourist regionalization and to highlight the main theoretical deficiencies, as well as the underestimation of scientific principles and approaches that underlie its practical inapplicability. The comparative analysis covers all concepts developed over the last 50 years that present a specific scheme of tourist regions, taking into account the relevant explanatory notes. For the purpose of the comparison, 9 criteria have been selected, which refer both to the approach and objectives, and to the specific schemes and their compliance with basic practical requirements. The results of the comparative analysis are chronologically presented in a table for their clearer and easier perception. The analysis has shown that the numerous tourist regionalization concepts of Bulgaria differ greatly in objectives, approaches and tools applied, and respectively provide different results in terms of country coverage, taxonomy, degree of the schemes’ details, etc. It has also shown significant differences in the tourist structuring of the country’s territory, which are more visible in the period after 1990. The development of a methodologically sound, politically acceptable and applicable scheme of tourist regions is a difficult political and scientific task but it is achievable through a reasonable compromise between the theory and the views of key stakeholders, in compliance with legislation and in the context of its objectives. The effectiveness of tourist regionalization for the purposes of tourism policy and destination marketing ultimately depends on its practical implementation. Otherwise, it could be considered merely as an “academic” exercise, which may have a scientific but not an applied value

Dimensions of employability in the hospitality industry at destination level—the case of a spa destination in Bulgaria

The paper presents the results from the application of the holistic approach to employability based on secondary data and a questionnaire survey of the human resources employed in the hotel and restaurant sector (198) and semi-structured interviews with tourism sector employers (11) in the municipality of Devin, Bulgaria. The results outline some of the dimensions of employability, existing problems of employability and their potential solutions. It is typical for the municipality of Devin that a large part of the local population in the region is directly dependent on tourism. This leads to relatively low staff turnover and high motivation to offer a quality tourism product. Respondents exhibit a high self-assessment of their own knowledge, skills and attitude in terms of development of tourism, but this does not correspond to the real situation given their activities to improve their own skills during the pandemic period closure. Recommendations are proposed for upgrading the qualification of staff at municipal and enterprise level

Dimensions of employability in the hospitality industry at destination level—the case of a spa destination in Bulgaria

The paper presents the results from the application of the holistic approach to employability based on secondary data and a questionnaire survey of the human resources employed in the hotel and restaurant sector (198) and semi-structured interviews with tourism sector employers (11) in the municipality of Devin, Bulgaria. The results outline some of the dimensions of employability, existing problems of employability and their potential solutions. It is typical for the municipality of Devin that a large part of the local population in the region is directly dependent on tourism. This leads to relatively low staff turnover and high motivation to offer a quality tourism product. Respondents exhibit a high self-assessment of their own knowledge, skills and attitude in terms of development of tourism, but this does not correspond to the real situation given their activities to improve their own skills during the pandemic period closure. Recommendations are proposed for upgrading the qualification of staff at municipal and enterprise level