Where there is water, there is life: how a river regeneration can activate urban life in Sofia, Bulgaria

The main topic of this thesis is the role of urban rivers in Sofia and their impact on the city, citizens and quality of life. It deals with infrastructure and traffic, public spaces in Sofia and their absence, natural resources negligence and their regeneration – all in the name of citizens’ wellbeing and a livable city. Case studies of waterways varying in size are brought together and compared, extracting common design aspects and similarities, which allow for a typology and strategies to be created. The project situation is along a stretch of the Vladayska river in the capital of Bulgaria. Special attention is given to one key area and is then followed by applying the same strategies on both sides creating a continuous public zone and urban riverscape

Водещи библиотечни тенденции в Нов български университет=Major Library Trends in New Bulgarian University

Every two years the Association of College and Research Libraries, American Library Association (ALA) formulates 10 top trends in academic libraries. For 2012-2013 the most important of these trends are popularization of the achievements, data curation, digital preservation, response to the changes in the higher education system, mobile environment, user-friendly model for e-book acquisition, scholarly communication, the role of the human sources and user behavior. The present article discusses the implementation of these key trends in the New Bulgarian University Library

And I the eye of the storm : reading the past/constructing the present in Toni Morrison's novels <i>Beloved</i> and <i>Jazz</i>.

This work analyses two novels by the Afro-American novelist Toni Morrison by employing critical tools from diverse fields such as structuralism, narratology, psychoanalysis and philosophy. The Introduction posits some problems in relation to the analysis of the concepts of race and gender from a feminia perspective. Chapter 1 is dedicated to story and memory in Beloved. Chapter 2 analyses narration and the ‘jazzy’ prose style Jazz, Chapter 3 is an interpretation of the time-space and power concepts as discussed by Heidegger, Foucault, and Bakhtin. The conclusion summarises in short the dissertation

PATTERNS OF SUBCHONDRAL MINERALIZATION OF THE METACARPOPHALANGEAL JOINT OF THE THUMB

The decisive relevance of the metacarpophalangeal joint (MPJ) of the thumb is obvious in respect of the need for the grip functions of the hand particularly regarding different kinds of sport. Surprisingly, there is a lack of information especially about the functional morphology of this joint. Based on CT osteoabsorptiometry (CT-OAM) 10 MPJs aged 52-90 years were investigated and mineralization patterns from the subchondral bone plates assessed. It was shown that the mineralization was higher in the phalangeal part than in the metacarpal one. While the maximum of mineralization lied in the phalangeal plate near the dorsal border in the metacarpal plate it was located more centrally. It was concluded that under high load the contact area also was oriented close to the dorsal joint part. This could be explained by the particular kinematics of this joint. Furthermore, a displacement of the resultant during the end phase of movements could be made responsible for this morphologic reaction

Development of Variational Thinking Skills in Programming Teaching

The paper presents an example of methodological approach to the development of variational thinking skills in teaching programming. Various ways in solving a given task are implemented for the purpose. One of the forms, through which the variational thinking is manifested, is related to trail practical actions. In the process of comprehension of the properties thus acquired, students are doing their own (correct or incorrect) conclusions for other, hidden properties and at the same time they discover possibilities for new ways of action and acquiring of new effects. The variability and the generalizing function of thinking are in a close interrelation, and their interaction to a great extend determines the dynamics of the cognitive activity of the student

Проучване на самооценяването като компонент от модела на саморегулирано учене за студенти от технологични специалности

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education and Research in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2015The results of the study of self-regulated learning of students in engineering and technological subjects are analyzed in aspects of the development of self-assessment skills. Obtained data from the survey are treated by cluster analysis in order to draw aggregate characteristics of the students at the beginning and the end of the bachelor degree.Association for the Development of the Information Society, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski

Ontology Mapping Tools, Methods and Approaches – Analytical Survey

In this paper we present the results of browsing, analyzing and comparing many ontology mapping tools, approaches and methods. We extract and classify valuable parameters for strict and unambiguous tool or method description. Every mapping tool, algorithm or approach must have such a description, practically usable for both human and software agents and sufficient for easy checking if it suitable or not for a given task. We will use our classifications for developing ontology, conceptualizing all valuable metadata for semantic machine-processable mapping tools description

The Sensitivity of Gas-Phase Chemical Models of Interstellar Clouds to C and O Elemental Abundances and to a New Formation Mechanism for Ammonia

The effects of variations in the gas-phase carbon-to-oxygen elemental abundance ratio (0.42 ≤ C/O ≤ 1.2) and the absolute gas-phase carbon and oxygen elemental abundances on calculated molecular concentrations have been studied for three gas-phase chemical models of dense interstellar clouds. Both the C and O elemental abundances were varied from their "low metal" values, in which C/O = 0.42. The results were compared with observations of the dark interstellar clouds TMC-1 and L134N, the latter being chosen because TMC-1, with its singularly rich component of large hydrocarbons and cyanopolyynes, may not represent dense cores universally. In general, variations in the gas-phase C and O elemental abundances have a large and time-dependent effect on calculated molecular concentrations for all three models. For the "new standard" model, which does not contain many rapid neutral-neutral reactions, excellent "early-time" agreement with TMC-1 occurs for a variety of C/O ratios obtained by depleting the low metal O abundance, but the time of best agreement tends to increase with increasing C/O ratio. At these early times, approx 80% of the calculated abundances are within an order of magnitude of the observed values. Agreement at this level also occurs at steady state if the C and O abundances are first depleted by a factor of 5 and then O is additionally depleted so that C/O ≥ 0.80. In general, a factor of 5 depletion of both C and O increases the production efficiency of large molecules. When the new standard model is applied to L134N, the early-time agreement is not as good as for TMC-1 unless both C and O are first depleted by factors of 5 from their low metal values and the C/O ratio is then maintained at a value less than 0.80. Under these conditions, the steady state results are only slightly worse. The other two models, containing fast neutral-neutral reactions, have their best agreement with TMC-1 when C/O ≥ 1, although the level of agreement is typically worse than with the new standard model, and factor of 5 depletions have little effect. For L134N, on the other hand, the early-time agreement with these latter two models for a wide range of C/O values is almost as good as with the new standard model if factor of 5 depletions in C and O are utilized and is actually superior for most cases when C/O ≥ 1. In general, the negative conclusions concerning models with rapid neutral-neutral reactions may therefore be overly harsh. When the newly studied rapid reaction H+_3+N→NH+_2 + H is included in our model calculations, the abundances of some N-containing species are in better agreement with observed values, but this effect decreases as C/O is increased

Teaching and Learning Transversal Competences in the Higher Education : Learnings from ERASMUS + SOCCES-project

Transversal or transferrable competences are recognized fundamental in our knowledge-based society. They are crucial for meeting the needs of the labor market and enabling social cohesion and active citizenship, ensuring flexibility, adaptability and motivation. Transversal competences are also called generic, soft or employment competences. They are used and developed in all areas of life. Education at all levels should encourage learning and expression of the transversal competences and thus support entrance into working life where the competences are further developed and transferred from one task or job to another. Even though working life as well as educational authorities widely recognize the critical importance of transversal competences in future employment, educational practices even at higher educational level lag often behind. Much importance even in higher education institutes (HEI) is still given to subject based, theoretical learning even several innovative pedagogical approaches have been developed which offer solutions for teaching and learning future working life competences. This article presents learnings from Erasmus + SOCCES-project (SOCial Competences, Entrepreneurship and Sense of Initiative - Development and Assessment Framework, 2014-2017) concerning transversal competences and educational practices using examples from six European higher educational institutes (HEI). The article claims, that learning through business cases in intercultural collaboration, can tackle barriers which culturally related pedagogical approaches create. This kind of approach motivates students to develop and express the necessary 21st century competences and gain full satisfaction. A business case model is presented which includes various aspects assuring learning of different elements related to transversal competences

The path towards discovering PMO: an exploratory analysis of the Italian banking sector

Directly acting on Project Management practices, PMO provides companies with help to innovate, reaching competitive advantage and growth in the long run, ceteris paribus, and attempts to reduce uncertainty. Even though PMO is a more consolidated practice in some countries, the phenomenon has lately been introduced in Italy, and it is still evolving. Not all organizations and not all individuals clearly understand the potential of PMO, and its role is often limited to simple Project Management in its strict meaning, while areas for improvement are many and varied. The paper analyses the status of PMO through a survey conducted inside the Italian banking sector, trying to frame the role of PMO, throwing light on its importance for a company as a whole, and not just for a single project. A discussion of the results and future work concludes the paper