174 research outputs found
Ökolandbau in Bulgarien–vor allem Arznei- und Aromapflanzen sowie Waldfrüchte, Obst und Bio-Honig für den Export
The statistical data of the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture show an certified growing
area of 9 370 ha in near 80 farm holdings for organic plant production, 2 in mixed plant
and animal production and 5 organic livestock breeding farms. Much bigger area of
ca. 155 793 ha is certified grassland and protected areas for wild collection of herbs
and wild berries. The average agricultural holdings cover 0,5 ha. Two hubs in South
and North Bulgaria launched the pilot Organic Herbs initiative in an UNDP JOBS
project at the end of 2002. Now 8 support centers have nurseries for organic seeds
and seedlings, trail plots, demonstration and production fields, driers and primary
processing facilities. The main products are sage, lemon balm, peppermint, valerian,
mountain tea, savory, chamomile, dog-rose, lavender, thyme, hyssop and marigold
The SPARC complex defines RNAPII promoters in Trypanosoma brucei
Kinetoplastids are a highly divergent lineage of eukaryotes with unusual mechanisms for regulating gene expression. We previously surveyed 65 putative chromatin factors in the kinetoplastid Trypanosoma brucei. Our analyses revealed that the predicted histone methyltransferase SET27 and the Chromodomain protein CRD1 are tightly concentrated at RNAPII transcription start regions (TSRs). Here, we report that SET27 and CRD1, together with four previously uncharacterized constituents, form the SET27 promoter-associated regulatory complex (SPARC), which is specifically enriched at TSRs. SET27 loss leads to aberrant RNAPII recruitment to promoter sites, accumulation of polyadenylated transcripts upstream of normal transcription start sites, and conversion of some normally unidirectional promoters to bidirectional promoters. Transcriptome analysis in the absence of SET27 revealed upregulated mRNA expression in the vicinity of SPARC peaks within the main body of chromosomes in addition to derepression of genes encoding variant surface glycoproteins (VSGs) located in subtelomeric regions. These analyses uncover a novel chromatin-associated complex required to establish accurate promoter position and directionality
Young love: Romantic concerns and associated mental health issues among adolescent help-seekers
Over 50% of young people have dated by age 15. While romantic relationship concerns are a major reason for adolescent help-seeking from counselling services, we have a limited understanding of what types of relationship issues are most strongly related to mental health issues and suicide risk. This paper used records of 4019 counselling sessions with adolescents (10-18 years) seeking help from a national youth counselling service for a romantic relationship concern to: (i) explore what types and stage (pre, during, post) of romantic concerns adolescents seek help for; (ii) how they are associated with mental health problems, self-harm and suicide risk; and (iii) whether these associations differ by age and gender. In line with developmental-contextual theory, results suggest that concerns about the initiation of relationships are common in early adolescence, while concerns about maintaining and repairing relationships increase with age. Relationship breakups were the most common concern for both male and female adolescents and for all age groups (early, mid, late adolescence). Data relating to a range of mental health issues were available for approximately half of the sample. Post-relationship concerns (including breakups) were also more likely than pre-or during-relationship concerns to be associated with concurrent mental health issues (36.8%), self-harm (22.6%) and suicide (9.9%). Results draw on a staged developmental theory of adolescent romantic relationships to provide a comprehensive assessment of relationship stressors, highlighting post-relationship as a particularly vulnerable time for all stages of adolescence. These findings contribute to the development of targeted intervention and support programs
The Impact of Gender on Mid-Career Labour Income: The Case of Bulgaria
The impact assessment of education and gender on mid-career labour income in a transitional economy could provide for better understanding of the influence of the labour market dynamics over individuals with different characteristics. Here, we attempt to find an answer to the question: How education and gender determine mid-career labour income? We estimate the returns to education depending on gender using Mincerian equations and regressions.
The data set we use is from the Structure of Earnings Survey conducted by the National Statistical Institute in 2002 and 2006. The analysis covers over 130,000 employees between 35 and 49 years old. The impact assessment allows conclusions about the wage gap between men and women, working in different economic sectors incl. the division of public and private sector, services and industry. The access to managerial position and gender differences in the type of the labour contract have been investigated for their contribution to the persistence of a gender pay gap among the individuals with a tertiary education
Synergy of wind wave model simulations and satellite observations during extreme events
In this study, the quality of wave data provided by the
new Sentinel-3A satellite is evaluated and the sensitivity of the wave model
to wind forcing is tested. We focus on coastal areas, where altimeter data
are of lower quality and wave modelling is more complex than for the open
ocean. In the first part of the study, the sensitivity of the wave model to
wind forcing is evaluated using data with different temporal and spatial
resolution, such as ERA-Interim and ERA5 reanalyses, the European Centre for
Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) operational analysis and short-range
forecasts, German Weather Service (DWD) forecasts and regional atmospheric
model simulations (coastDat). Numerical simulations show that
the wave model forced using the ERA5 reanalyses and that forced using the
ECMWF operational analysis/forecast demonstrate the best capability over the
whole study period, as well as during extreme events. To further estimate the
variance of the significant wave height of ensemble members for different
wind forcings, especially during extreme events, an empirical orthogonal
function (EOF) analysis is performed. In the second part of the study, the
satellite data of Sentinel-3A, Jason-2 and CryoSat-2 are assessed in
comparison with in situ measurements and spectral wave model (WAM)
simulations. Intercomparisons between remote sensing and in situ observations
demonstrate that the overall quality of the former is good over the North Sea
and Baltic Sea throughout the study period, although the significant wave
heights estimated based on satellite data tend to be greater than the in situ
measurements by 7 to 26 cm. The quality of all satellite data near
the coastal area decreases; however, within 10 km off the coast,
Sentinel-3A performs better than the other two satellites. Analyses in which
data from satellite tracks are separated in terms of onshore and offshore
flights have been carried out. No substantial differences are found when
comparing the statistics for onshore and offshore flights. Moreover, no
substantial differences are found between satellite tracks under various
metocean conditions. Furthermore, the satellite data quality does not depend
on the wind direction relative to the flight direction. Thus, the quality of
the data obtained by the new Sentinel-3A satellite over coastal areas
is improved compared to that of older satellites.</p
Newly Identified Star Clusters in M33. III. Structural Parameters
We present the morphological properties of 161 star clusters in M33 using the
Advanced Camera For Surveys Wide Field Channel onboard the Hubble Space
Telescope using observations with the F606W and F814W filters. We obtain, for
the first time, ellipticities, position angles, and surface brightness profiles
for a significant number of clusters. On average, M33 clusters are more
flattened than those of the Milky Way and M31, and more similar to clusters in
the Small Magellanic Cloud. The ellipticities do not show any correlation with
age or mass, suggesting that rotation is not the main cause of elongation in
the M33 clusters. The position angles of the clusters show a bimodality with a
strong peak perpendicular to the position angle of the galaxy major axis. These
results support the notion that tidal forces are the reason for the cluster
flattening. We fit King and EFF models to the surface brightness profiles and
derive structural parameters including core radii, concentration, half-light
radii and central surface brightness for both filters. The surface brightness
profiles of a significant number of clusters show irregularities such as bumps
and dips. Young clusters (Log age < 8) are notably better fitted by models with
no radial truncation (EFF models), while older clusters show no significant
differences between King or EFF fits. M33 star clusters seem to have smaller
sizes, smaller concentrations, and smaller central surface brightness as
compared to clusters in the MW, M31, LMC and SMC. Analysis of the structural
parameters presents a age-radius relation also detected in other star cluster
systems. The overall analysis shows differences in the structural evolution
between the M33 cluster system and cluster systems in nearby galaxies. These
differences could have been caused by the strong differences in these various
environments.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Coastal Ocean Forecasting: science foundation and user benefits
The advancement of Coastal Ocean Forecasting Systems (COFS) requires the support of continuous scientific progress addressing: (a) the primary mechanisms driving coastal circulation; (b) methods to achieve fully integrated coastal systems (observations and models), that are dynamically embedded in larger scale systems; and (c) methods to adequately represent air-sea and biophysical interactions. Issues of downscaling, data assimilation, atmosphere-wave-ocean couplings and ecosystem dynamics in the coastal ocean are discussed. These science topics are fundamental for successful COFS, which are connected to evolving downstream applications, dictated by the socioeconomic needs of rapidly increasing coastal populations
N-body Models of Rotating Globular Clusters
We have studied the dynamical evolution of rotating globular clusters with
direct -body models. Our initial models are rotating King models; we
obtained results for both equal-mass systems and systems composed out of two
mass components. Previous investigations using a Fokker-Planck solver have
revealed that rotation has a noticeable influence on stellar systems like
globular clusters, which evolve by two-body relaxation. In particular, it
accelerates their dynamical evolution through the gravogyro instability. We
have validated the occurence of the gravogyro instability with direct -body
models. In the case of systems composed out of two mass components, mass
segregation takes place, which competes with the rotation in the acceleration
of the core collapse. The "accelerating" effect of rotation has not been
detected in our isolated two-mass -body models. Last, but not least, we have
looked at rotating -body models in a tidal field within the tidal
approximation. It turns out that rotation increases the escape rate
significantly. A difference between retrograde and prograde rotating star
clusters occurs with respect to the orbit of the star cluster around the
Galaxy, which is due to the presence of a ``third integral'' and chaotic
scattering, respectively.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figures, accepted by MNRA
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