THE INNOVATION STRATEGY AND THE COMPETITIVE POSITIONS OF BULGARIAN ECONOMY

As an EU member state, it has become an imperative for Bulgaria to fit in the economic structure of the European Union. In order to promote economic growth, the Union assigned member-states with the task to identify the advantages which will enable them to specialize in the production of goods and services with high added value. Specialization will thus enable member states to focus their effort on consolidating their comparative advantages by employing as an instrument the innovation paradigm. To respond to this challenge, Bulgaria designed its ‘Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization’ in 2014. The aim of this research is to identify the extent to which the Strategy reflects the real opportunities for the national economy to increase the value added of its production by introducing innovations in specific technological areas stated in the document. The findings of the research indicate that the Innovation Strategy is not in compliance with the underlying logic of the European Commission or the OECD in terms of identifying the economic activities that have real potential as comparative advantages and core competences and where the fastest and most sustainable growth of value added could be expected through the adoption of innovations

Adaptation of a Task-oriented Training Environment to its Users

The problem of adapting teaching systems to the teacher has not been extensively covered in the specialised literature. The authors present the server-client architecture of a Task-Oriented Environment for Design of Virtual Labs (TOEDVL). The paper focuses on the computational models supporting its base of tasks (BT) and on two groups of behavioural tutor’s models for planning training sessions. Detailed examples are presented

Newly-detected glucose disturbances in patients undergoing coronary angiography for known or suspected coronary artery disease

PURPOSES: Glucose disturbances are common in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), however, usually, they remain undiagnosed. The aim of this study was to estimate the newly-diagnosed glucose abnormalities in patients undergoing coronary angiography for known or suspected CAD.MATERIAL AND METHODS: A routine oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was applied in 96 consecutive patients without previous history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) undergoing coronary angiography. Glucose tolerance was defined according to WHO-2006 criteria by OGTT performed within a week after hospital discharge.RESULTS: Glucose disturbances prevailed over normoglycemia as 64.58% of the patients demonstrated hyperglycemia while 35.42% presented with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). Overall, 120 min-hyperglycemia (≥7.8 mmol/L) was found out in 52.08% of the participants and only 12.5% of the cases had isolated fasting hyperglycemia (fasting plasma glucose, FPG e6.1 mmol/L and postchallenge glucose <7.8 mmol/L). Based on plasma glucose values such as FPG and 2-hour post-OGTT glucose, the proportion of patients with newly diagnosed T2DM, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) was 26.04%, 28.12% and 10.42 %, respectively. Some 20% of the newly-diagnosed T2DM patients reached a diagnostic FPG value only, 32% reached 120 min.-plasma glucose (PG) value only while 48% met combined criteria.CONCLUSION: Glucose abnormalities identified by OGTT are more common than normoglycemia - in 64.58% versus 35.42% of the patients undergoing coronary angiography for known or suspected CAD. This finding strongly suggests that OGTT is the most valuable tool for the early detection of disturbed glucose regulation and should be performed routinely in the patients with known or suspected CAD.Scripta Scientifica Medica 2013; 45(3): 69-73

Reliability Prediction of Thick Film Hybrid Integrated Circuits

When using the well known handbooks for reliability predicting (MIL, CNET) some problems occur in quality assessment of components which are not produced according to the requirements of the US military or the French standards. The results obtained from tests of Test Pattern Circuits may be used successfully for reliability estimating during the design period of new thick film Hybrid Integrated Circuits. Six types of Test Pattern Circuits were designed and tested and a model for estimating thick film Hybrid Integrated Circuits failure rate is proposed. Failure rate values predicted by using the method with Test Pattern Circuits, and the results, obtained from the tests of two kinds of Hybrid Integrated Circuits concerned for a 90% confidence level were compared

Calculating the motion of highly confined, arbitrary-shaped particles in Hele-Shaw channels

We combine theory, numerical calculations, and experiments to accurately predict the motion of anisotropic particles in shallow microfluidic channels, in which the particles are strongly confined in the vertical direction. We formulate an effective quasi-two-dimensional description of the Stokes flow around the particle via the Brinkman equation, which can be solved in a time that is two orders of magnitude faster than the three-dimensional problem. The computational speedup enables us to calculate the full trajectories of particles in the channel. To test our scheme, we study the motion of dumbbell-shaped particles that are produced in a microfluidic channel using `continuous flow lithography'. Contrary to what was reported in earlier work (Uspal et al., Nature communications 4 (2013)), we find that the reorientation time of a dumbbell particle in an external flow exhibits a minimum as a function of its disk size ratio. This finding is in excellent agreement with new experiments, thus confirming the predictive power of our scheme.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 4 supplemental movie

High osteoprotegerin serum levels in newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetic males without known coronary artery disease

PURPOSES: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is an inhibitor of osteoclastogenesis, but is produced from vasculature, too. There is recent evidence of increased circulating OPG levels in patients with diabetes as well as in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Up to date, there are no sufficient data about OPG concentrations in newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (nT2DM) patients. The aim of our study was to determine the serum OPG levels in males with nT2DM without known concomitant CAD and to investigate the association of OPG with intima-media thickness (IMT) of common carotid arteries and glucometabolic arameters.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Serum OPG levels were measured in 31 nT2DM males and 15 age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched non-diabetic male subjects. IMT of common carotid arteries was measured by a 7.5-MHz B-mode ultrasonography. OPG was estimated by ELISA (BioMedica) in pmol/L.RESULTS: OPG was significantly higher in nT2DM patients when compared to controls (4.59±0.28 versus 3.20±0.30 pmol/L; p=0.004). In the whole group of subjects, there was a positive correlation of OPG levels with glucose parameters: fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (r=0.38; p=0.01), 2-hour post-challenge glucose (r=0.45; p=0.003) and HbA1c (r=0.46; p=0.002). Moreover, OPG correlated significantly with carotid IMT (Pr 0.40; p=0.01).CONCLUSION:  Serum OPG is significantly elevated in nT2DM males without known CAD compared to non-diabetic controls. OPG levels show associations not only with some glucose indices but also with IMT, one of the earliest atherosclerotic markers. Probably, these glucose indices and this vascular parameter are involved in OPG regulation. We could suggest that OPG rises early in the evolution of diabetic disorders. However, further investigations are needed.Scripta Scientifica Medica 2013; 45(3): 65-68

Pitolisant for Residual Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in OSA Patients Adhering to CPAP A Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in individuals with OSA syndrome persisting despite good adherence to CPAP is a disabling condition. Pitolisant is a selective histamine H3-receptor antagonist with wake-promoting effects. RESEARCH QUESTION: Is pitolisant effective and safe for reducing daytime sleepiness in individuals with moderate to severe OSA adhering to CPAP treatment but experiencing residual EDS? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In a multicenter, double-blind, randomized (3:1), placebo-controlled, parallel-design trial, pitolisant was titrated individually at up to 20 mg/day and taken over 12 weeks. The primary end point was change in the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score in the intention-to treat population. Key secondary end points were maintenance of wakefulness assessed by the Oxford Sleep Resistance Test, Clinical Global Impressions scale of severity, the patient's global opinion, EuroQoL quality-of-life questionnaire score, Pichot fatigue questionnaire score, and safety. RESULTS: Two hundred forty-four OSA participants (82.8% men; mean age, 53.1 years; mean Apnea Hypopnea Index with CPAP, 4.2/h; baseline ESS score, 14.7) were randomized to pitolisant (n = 183) or placebo (n = 61). ESS significantly decreased with pitolisant compared with placebo (-2.6; 95% CI, -3.9 to -1.4; P < .001), and the rate of responders to therapy (ESS # 10 or change in ESS $ 3) was significantly higher with pitolisant (71.0% vs 54.1%; P = .013). Adverse event occurrence (mainly headache and insomnia) was higher in the pitolisant group compared with the placebo group (47.0% and 32.8%, respectively; P = .03). No cardiovascular or other significant safety concerns were reported. INTERPRETATION: Pitolisant used as adjunct to CPAP therapy for OSA with residual sleepiness despite good CPAP adherence significantly reduced subjective and objective sleepiness and improved participant-reported outcomes and physician-reported disease severity.Peer reviewe

Universal motion of mirror-symmetric microparticles in confined Stokes flow

Comprehensive understanding of particle motion in microfluidic devices is essential to unlock novel technologies for shape-based separation and sorting of microparticles like microplastics, cells and crystal polymorphs. Such particles interact hydrodynamically with confining surfaces, thus altering their trajectories. These hydrodynamic interactions are shape-dependent and can be tuned to guide a particle along a specific path. We produce strongly confined particles with various shapes in a shallow microfluidic channel via stop flow lithography. Regardless of their exact shape, particles with a single mirror plane have identical modes of motion: in-plane rotation and cross-stream translation along a bell-shaped path. Each mode has a characteristic time, determined by particle geometry. Furthermore, each particle trajectory can be scaled by its respective characteristic times onto two master curves. We propose minimalistic relations linking these timescales to particle shape. Together these master curves yield a trajectory universal to particles with a single mirror plane.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, 1 PDF file containing Supplementary Text, Figures and Tabl

Steering particles by breaking symmetries

We derive general equations of motions for highly-confined particles that perform quasi-two-dimensional motion in Hele-Shaw channels, which we solve analytically, aiming to derive design principles for self-steering particles. Based on symmetry properties of a particle, its equations of motion can be simplified, where we retrieve an earlier-known equation of motion for the orientation of dimer particles consisting of disks (Uspal et al 2013 Nat. Commun. 4), but now in full generality. Subsequently, these solutions are compared with particle trajectories that are obtained numerically. For mirror-symmetric particles, excellent agreement between the analytical and numerical solutions is found. For particles lacking mirror symmetry, the analytic solutions provide means to classify the motion based on particle geometry, while we find that taking the side-wall interactions into account is important to accurately describe the trajectories