The blue economy of the western Black Sea

The blue economy comprises sectors related to maritime and coastal activities. These economic activities either depend directly on marine ecosystems or exert pressure on them. This close link between human welfare and the state of the environment is clearly visible in the exploitation of marine living resources, one of the illustrative sectors of the blue economy. An insight into the complex relationships between nature, economy and society is provided by the concept of sustainability. A set of indicators is used in an attempt to measure sustainability at a sectoral level. This pilot study tests the applicability of the recently proposed Blue Economy Sustainability Framework. The results show the existence of data gaps and the variation within the blue economy sectors in the western part of the Black Sea basin

Anthropometric and acoustic pharyngometric parameters in sleep-disordered breathing due to structural pharyngeal alterations

INTRODUCTION: Sleep-disordered breathing is a medico-social problem of rising importance worldwide. There are various clinical forms of sleep apnea such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and central sleep apnea as well as snoring. Recently, there have been considerable advances in the diagnosis of OSA and snoring.АIМ: This study aimed at applying the method of acoustic pharyngometry for the diagnosis of pharyngeal alterations in subjects with sleep-disordered breathing within a preventive otorhinolaryngological programme in the city of Varna for the first time in Bulgaria.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 1, 2016 and August 31, 2019, screening for sleep-disordered breathing was performed among 100 subjects, 62 males at a mean age of 48.82±11.45 years and 38 females at a mean age of 52.42±16.54 years in the Division of Otorhinolaryngology, St. Anna Hospital of Varna. Clinical inspections, anterior rhinoscopy, pharyngoscopy, indirect laryngoscopy, acoustic rhinometry, as well as acoustic pharyngometry by means of Eccovision® acoustic pharyngometer were used. The t-test for independent variables and the correlation analysis were applied for statistical data processing.RESULTS: The acoustic pharyngometry identified several pharyngeal alterations. There were statistically significant changes of the anthropometric parameters (body mass index, neck circumference and adjusted neck circumference) and pharyngometric ones (pharyngeal cavity and vocal tract lengths and volumes) between males and females. There were statistically significant positive and negative correlations between the values of these parameters.CONCLUSION: Within the complex otorhinolaryngological examination of the pharyngeal structure and function in the subjects suspected for sleep-disordered breathing, acoustic pharyngometry could play an irreplaceable role as a cost-effective tool

Global interdependencies in seafood trade: the case of Bulgaria

The international trade in fish and fishery products has reached global dimensions during the past several decades. While the domestic demand for seafood in Bulgaria is modest compared to European and world levels, Bulgarian fish processing enterprises are part of international value chains. At the same time consumer preferences for certain types of seafood in foreign markets shape the activities of the Black Sea fishing fleet. The paper makes an attempt to reveal some of the linkages between the Bulgarian commercial fishing and processing, and the world market that have formed during the past years. It outlines the development of the fishing fleet, its economic performance, the type of catch for domestic consumption and for export, as well as the role of the processing sector. It illustrates an aspect of globalisation: the connection between the harvesting of marine living resources and the demand for them in the world market. The development of the world seafood market calls for a precautionary fishery management approach, which envisages the potential exploitation of new species for a particular water basin

Circular economy: Limitations of the concept and application challenges

Circular economy is a popular notion promoted by the EU, by a number of national governments and by many businesses around the world. However, it looks like a collection of visionary ideas without a firm scientific basis. We try to place it in the framework of sustainability and outline some of the existing limitations of the current form of the concept. The second part of the paper presents an overview of the rate of adoption of circular economy approaches at global, European and industry level and the challenges to their applicatio

Thornwaldt’s cyst – a case report and review of the literature

Целта на това съобщение е да се представи рядък случай на епифарингеална киста, произхождаща от джобчето на Rathke, и да се направи обзор на достъпната литература по този проблем. Касае се за пациента В. С. С на 29 г. от Варна. Насочен е от рентгенолог след МРИ-изследване към Отделението по УНГ на МБАЛ „Св. Анна“ – Варна АД на 18.III.2012 г. с оплаквания от теменно главоболие. Диагнозата „киста на Thornwaldt“ се поставя въз основа на назофарингоскопия, МРИ и КАТ. Тя се потвърждава чрез хистологично изследване. При назофарингоскопията се открива кистозна формация в епифаринкса. МРИ показва добре отграничена овална структура с размери до 17 mm в областта на епифаринкса. Тя е хипоинтензна на FLAIR и градиент-ехо Т2-образи, хиперинтензна на Т1-образи и изоинтензна на меките тъкани. Ексцизията на кистата се извършва под обща интубационна анестезия. Патохистологично се доказва киста, тапицирана с цилиндричен епител. Налице са гнойно-продуктивни възпалителни изменения. На тази рядка кистична малформация на епифаринкса, описана за първи път от Thornwaldt през 1885 г., до сега са посветени общо само 17 публикации, реферирани в базата-данни MEDLINE. Представеният клиничен случай е изключително рядък. Поради това той представлява определен диференциално-диагностичен интерес за рино-фарингологията.The purpose of this communication is to report a rare case of an epipharyngeal cyst originating from Rathke’s recess and to perform a survey of the literature on this topic available as well. It concerned V. S. S., a 29-year old patient from Varna. He was forwarded by roentgenologist after MRI examination to the Division of Otorhinolaryngology, St. Anna Hospital of Varna, on March 18, 2012 with complaints of occipital headache as well as of bad and smelly breath. The diagnosis of a Thornwaldt’s cyst was based on nasopharyngoscopy, MRI, and CAT. It was confirmed by a histological examination.By using of the nasopharyngoscopy, a cystic formation in the nasopharynx was detected. MRI demonstrated a well-outlined oval-shaped structure up to 17 mm on size in the nasopharynx. It was hypointense on FLAIR and gradient-echo T2-images, hyperintense on T1-images, and isointense towards the soft tissues. Cyst excision was performed under general intubation anesthesia. Pathohistologically, a cyst upholstered by a cylindrical epithelium was proved. Purulent-productive inflammatory alterations were present. To this rare cystic epipharyngeal malformation first described by Thornwaldt in 1885 up-to-date a total of only 17 publications abstracted in MEDLINE database were devoted. The clinical case reported is extraordinarily rare. That is why it represents a definite differential-diagnostic interest for rhinopharyngology

Erythroleukemia Relapsing as Precursor B-cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia

AML relapsing as ALL has rarely been reported. We describe the case of a 62-yr-old man who was diagnosed with erythroleukemia with a complex karyotype and achieved complete hematologic and cytogenetic remission after induction chemotherapy. However, 4 months after the initial diagnosis, he showed relapse with blasts showing a different morphology and immunophenotype and was diagnosed with precursor B-cell ALL. The relapsing precursor B-cell ALL presented with the same leukemic clones as the primary erythroleukemia. Cytogenetic analysis of his bone marrow (BM) at the time of the primary erythroleukemia showed complex karyotypic abnormalities, including monosomy 5 and monosomy 7. At relapse, his BM showed reemergence of these leukemic clones of complex karyotypic abnormalities with clonal switch. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a lineage switch from erythroleukemia to ALL

A new adaptive marine policy toolbox to support ecosystem-based approach to management

4 p.As a consequence of increasing threats to the marine ecosystems, new decision support tools are necessary to support the implementation of the Ecosystem-Based Approach (EBA) to management in order to ensure their sustainable exploitation whilst ensuring their preservation. *To operationalize Ecosystem-Based Approach (EBA) to management and translate scientific knowledge into decision tools, an innovative Adaptive Marine Policy Toolbox has been created. It provides policymakers with necessary framework and resources to develop adaptive policies according to the EBA. *The Adaptive Marine Policy Toolbox provides a one-stop single location to access all the guidelines and resources necessary to design and implement adaptive marine policies according to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. *The toolbox presents a high transferability to additional regulations calling for the Ecosystem-Based Approach to management such as the Ecosystem Approach of the Mediterranean Action Plan and the Black Sea´s Strategic Action Plan. *The Resources existing within the toolbox are presented in a user-friendly format. The presence of assessments and models capable to cope with uncertain conditions allows for high flexibility and adaptation in management strategies when future conditions change

Measurement of W Polarisation at LEP

The three different helicity states of W bosons produced in the reaction e+ e- -> W+ W- -> l nu q q~ at LEP are studied using leptonic and hadronic W decays. Data at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt s = 183-209 GeV are used to measure the polarisation of W bosons, and its dependence on the W boson production angle. The fraction of longitudinally polarised W bosons is measured to be 0.218 \pm 0.027 \pm 0.016 where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation