Perception of Dynamic Social and Non-social Stimuli in Preterm and Full-term Children: Neurocognitive Correlates in Early Childhood

Preterm birth is the leading cause of newborn deaths in almost all countries around the world. Whilst survivors encounter severe motor, cognitive and behavioral impairments during infancy or later in their lives, the studies of the recent years have demonstrated that the social development serving a basis for learning and cognition of the environment in human infants can be severely affected even in normally developing preterm born children (gestational age < 37 weeks). The current article presents a discussion on the behavioral as well as the neuroimaging aspects of the social maturation in preterm and full-term children, depicting complexity of theimpairments and focusing on the involved brain structures. Further, authors perform the design of the longitudinal study of social and non-social perception in early childhood, implemented on the base of the Laboratory for Brain and Neurocognitive Development (Ural Federal University). Keywords: prematurity, social development, early childhood, neurocognitive correlate

The wall flora of the Nebet Tepe Architectural Reserve in the city of Plovdiv (Bulgaria)

The flora of the Nebet Tepe Architectural Reserve in the city of Plovdiv (Thracian Plain) was studied in the period 1998–2003. The number of plants growing spontaneously on and around the fragments of the fortification wall and on the pavements is 131. The flora is analyzed with respect to the local distribution of the taxa, their chorology, life form and geoelement characteristics. The flora contains a relatively high proportion of ruderals and weeds. The hemicryptophytes and therophytes constitute the largest group. The following families are distinguished by the greatest number of species: Asteraceae (14), Fabaceae (13), Poaceae (12), Brassicaceae (8), Scrophulariaceae (7), Caryophyllaceae (7). The species Cerastium tauricum Spreng. and Melica transsilvanica Schur are recorded for the first time for the flora of the Thracian Plain floristic region. The results are compared with other European and Mediterranean wall floras

UMass Amherst Campus Green Building Resources

UMass Amherst is a STARS Gold institution that has received numerous awards for its sustainability efforts in higher education. To celebrate the physical elements of the campus sustainability achievements, and to inform campus staff, faculty and students how to support green building projects, Campus Planning and Design & Construction sponsored a presentation to the campus community on Campus Green Building Resources: LEED and Beyond. Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Senior Campus Planner reviews the commitment UMass Amherst has made to sustainable design and construction and the range of sustainability/LEED resources available to campus staff, faculty and students as they work on planning, designing and constructing a sustainable campus. The presentation also assists staff in navigating the LEED rating systems, provides an in-depth review of campus-wide programs and practices that support LEED building certification, and is meant to encourage discussion of what additional resources are needed to facilitate on-going renovation and modernization work that supports a green campus

DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC PROBLEMS OF ACUTE RENAL FAILURE IN CHILDHOOD

Acute renal failure (ACR) is a clinical-biological syndrome of sudden rapidly advancing, commonly reversible damage of renal function when a normal body homeostasis cannot be maintained. In the Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Varna, 18 children with ACR were treated. The most common reasons for the ACR were the following: acute glomerulonephritis, haemolytic-uraemic syndrome, and severe malformations of the urinary tract. Blood urea, creatinine, ionogram,acid-base balance, and diuresis were dynamically monitored in all the children. Therapeutic behaviour was directed towards the correction of the dyselectrolytaemia and acid-alkaline profile. The elevated lethality rate still persisted. Three patients deceased

UMass Amherst Collections 2013

During the Campus Master Planning effort the need to better understand and plan for the UMass Amherst collections was identified and an ad-hoc committee was created to help advance a better understanding of the existing collections and how best to plan for the future. The committee was comprised of Directors/ curators of campus academic collections, Campus Planning staff and other related campus professionals. The first task of the committee was to develop a basis for creating a planning framework for the academic collections. The Committee defined existing collections and set a framework and common language that enabled the classification and quantification of collections space on cam­pus. The UMass Amherst Collections 2013 report summarizes each collection, its mission and the contact person responsible for the collection. The term collection was defined to include all the campus holdings that are used for academic, research and outreach purposes, with the exception of the Libraries, which had recently completed a facilities Master Plan outlining strategies for future facilities

Planning for Campus Collections 2013

During the Campus Master Planning effort the need to better understand and plan for the UMass Amherst collections was identified and an ad-hoc committee was created to help advance a better understanding of the existing collections and how best to plan for the future. The committee was comprised of Directors/ curators of campus academic collections, Campus Planning staff and other related campus professionals. The first task of the committee was to develop a basis for creating a planning framework for the academic collections. The Committee defined existing collections and set a framework and common language that enabled the classification and quantification of collections space on cam­pus. The UMass Amherst Planning for Campus Collection 2013 report to academic Deans provides an overview of the Campus Planning Collections Study and proposes a vision for future planning efforts

Agitation Effects and Kinetic Constants of Exoglucomannan Production by Antarctic Yeast Strain in a Stirred Tank Bioreactor

Exoglucomannan production by Antarctic yeast Sporobolomyces salmonicolor AL1 is studied at semi-tech scale in a 5 L stirred tank bioreactor and the bioreaction kinetics is quantified. The organism’s unconventional response to agitation is analyzed in terms of the agitation-induced mechanical stress. The yeast maximum production activity was observed at agitation rate 400 rpm and conserved or decreased at further increase in mixing intensity. Referring to the relationship of cell growth and aeration intensity, the various production activity, oxygen availability and cell growth are considered as a starting point to elucidate the possible reasons for the anomaly. At suspicion of shear detrimental effect on the yeast cells, the hydrodynamic stress acting on cell particles is determined and the microorganism morphology at low and high mixing intensity is examined. Biological stability is registered and the agitation effect is attributed to depressed metabolic activity at the evolving dissolved oxygen tension rather than to direct effect of hydrodynamics. A kinetic model is proposed. The specific growth rate (µ, h–1) and growth-associated (g EPS g–1 cells), and non-growth associated (g EPS g–1 cells h–1) production constants are determined and compared with reported estimates for similar reference EPS fermentations. The model and its parameters are determined in well-mixed cultures and could be upgraded further to account for mixing non-ideality and mass transfer in larger vessels