Gardening the City: Neighbourliness and Appropriation of the Common Spaces in Bulgaria

Gardening the City: Neighbourliness and Appropriation of the Common Spaces in Bulgaria The paper discusses the forms of public-private space division in a postcosialist Bulgarian city as everyday practices of inhabiting and appropriation of the common spaces in one neighborhood of Plovdiv. The anthropological research of the urban spaces includes a long term observation of the everyday practices in the city of socialism, the city in transition and the changed cities nowadays, following the line of the changing boundaries, distinction and expression of the public and private, common and individual. The cases of particular interest in my research are the forms of transgression of the physical borders and social boundaries as well as establishing new ones, according to the changing identities, social hierarchies, power relations, forms of social solidarity and networking and investment in social capital. The paper presents cases of blurring borders and boundaries as urban discourses – of the socialist city, the city in transition and the other – the city after 2007 when Bulgaria joined the EU. These cases are studied on the base of the everyday practices of urban gardening in common spaces – around block of flats, on the windowed balconies and small gardens (vegetable plots) in the town outskirts.   Uprawianie miasta: sąsiedzkość i zawłaszczanie przestrzeni wspólnej w Bułgarii Artykuł omawia formy publiczno-prywatnego podziału przestrzeni w postsocjalistycznym mieście bułgarskim jako codzienne praktyki zamieszkiwania i zawłaszczania przestrzeni wspólnej na jednym z osiedli w Płowdiw. Antropologiczne badanie przestrzeni miejskiej koncentruje się na długookresowej obserwacji codziennych praktyk w mieście socjalistycznym, następnie przechodzącym okres transformacji, a wreszcie w mieście współczesnym, idąc za zmieniającą się linią granic, rozróżnieniem i wyrażaniem się publicznego i prywatnego, wspólnego i indywidualnego. Uwaga autorki skupia się szczególnie na formach transgresji fizycznych i społecznych granic oraz na tworzeniu nowych zgodnie ze zmieniającymi się tożsamościami, hierarchią społeczną, relacjami władzy, formami solidarności społecznej, usieciowieniem oraz inwestycjami w kapitał społeczny. W artykule omówiono przypadki naruszenia granic oraz podziały jako dyskursy miejskie – o mieście socjalistycznym, mieście transformacji i inne, tworzone po 2007 roku po wstąpieniu Bułgarii do UE. Przypadki te badano w perspektywie codziennych praktyk miejskiego ogrodnictwa prowadzonego w przestrzeni wspólnej, wokół bloków, na balkonach i w ogródkach na obrzeżach miasta

Inhibitors to Business Model Change Realization: Evidence from the European niche banking market.

The concept of business model offers several views on what it means and how it serves to enhance value capture, creation and delivery of an organization. However an organization which have experienced continuous growth, fails to realize the necessity for change. Moreover when the “wake up” call for change occurs, some factors, as the authors identify as inhibitors, severely hinders the urge to move towards change. There might be some underlying issues or rather challenges behind the creation/emergence of an inhibitor, but how does that translate when the competitive landscape shifts and a change in the existing business model becomes a necessity

6MWT in Patients after Coronary Artery Stenting

The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is an easily reproducible test that measures the body's response to submaximal exercise. The test is widely applicable. The aim of the present report is to analyze the results of the 6MWT performed in patients after coronary artery stenting. The study included 30 patients, divided into two groups of 15 each, according to the kinesitherapy they received. In the control group, we administered standard kinesitherapy to patients with cardiovascular diseases. Meanwhile, in the experimental group, we implemented a specialized kinesitherapeutic program that included isometric and resistive exercises.Results. Mean values and standard deviations of distance traveled, oxygen saturation, arterial pressure, and heart rate were calculated. In the control group, the distance traveled showed an improvement of 78.5 m, while in the experimental group, it improved by 83.5 m. We observed a smoother increase in blood pressure in both groups after the therapy. Oxygen saturation in the experimental group was 94.27 at the beginning of the study and 94.60 by the end, and in the control group it was 94.67 (at the beginning) and 94.53 (by the end). The degree of dyspnea on the Borg scale in the patients of the control group at the beginning of the study was 2, and then 0.4. In the experimental group, the degree of dyspnea was 1.1 before kinesitherapy and decreased to 0.17 after kinesitherapy.Conclusion. The 6-minute walking test is a simple method for evaluating the body's response to everyday stresses. The analysis of the test results before and after kinesitherapy indicates an improvement in the endurance of the participants, signifying an enhancement in their quality of life

CENTIMETRY IN PATIENTS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

Cardiovascular disease affects those affected negatively. In our country, two out of every three people die from cardiovascular diseases.. Centimetry is an easily applicable method of measurement. The relationship between certain higher values measured by centimeter and the presence of diseases of the cardiovascular system has been established. The aim of this report is to present the measured values by centimeter in patients after coronary artery stent insertion and to analyze the results comparing them with literature data.Materials and methods. We have used a centimeter. We measured the waist and hip circumferences as well as the height of the patients. Based on the obtained values in cm, we calculated the ratios: waist/hip, waist/height and abdominal volume index (AVI).Results and discussion. We used the statistical package Graph Pad Prism 3.0 for the processing of results. We have calculated the mean and standard deviation for the studied indicators. We studied 30 patients after insertion of the coronary arteries. The mean values of the hip measurement were 113.05±8.19 cm. The mean values of the waist measurement were 96.67±8.47 cm. The mean waist/hipratio was 0.86±0.04. The mean waist/height ratio was 0.56±0.04. The calculated mean abdominal volume index (AVI) values were 18.85 ±3.19.Conclusion. Circulation calculations and the ratios derived from them can be used to assess the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Timely detection of elevated values would allow adequate lifestyle modification measures to be taken to counteract the risk of cardiovascular disease development

Professional psychological stress management in chronic renal failure patients

PURPOSE: Any patients with chronic diseases, and especially those with chronic renal failure, face not only the specific physical aspects of their own primary pathology but also the psychological distress when realizing the severity of the progression of this disease and its poor prognosis. The objective of this study was to reveal some psychological features of the patients on haemodialysis.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The investigation covered 70 patients, 43 males and 27 females with chronic renal failure treated in the Clinic of Dialysis of Varna and in the Dialysis Centre of Targovishte. The patients filled in anonymous questionnaires and underwent a psychological examination according to a modified anxiety scale.RESULTS: Recently, the number of emergency cases in both haemodialysis centres increased. In Varna, the emergency cases were 34 out of 37 while in Targovishte, these amounted to 8 out of 11. This hampered the provision of sufficient information about the disease to the patients. At the onset of treatment, social activity was preserved in 44% of the patients while after 12 months this persisted in 16% of them. More than 85% of the patients retired due to disability caused by the renal disease. The influence on the interpersonal relations of the disease-related stress and anxiety was very unfavourable.CONCLUSION: There is a necessity to apply individualized psychotherapeutic approach to the patients with chronic renal failure in order to improve their adjustment to this severe pathology and collaboration with the physician as well as to minimize their feeling of inevitability.Scripta Scientifica Medica 2013; 45(1): 40-42

Los países menos desarrollados y los objetivos del milenio: el papel del crecimiento de la población

Este Trabajo Fin de Grado consiste en el estudio de la importancia que tiene el crecimiento de la población en los países menos desarrollados del mundo. Hoy en día existen grandes desigualdades entre los estados y regiones de este planeta, que prevalecen entre los seres humanos desde hace años. Es por ello que se han desarrollado una serie de propósitos/metas, buscando equilibrar la balanza entre unos y otros. Poder acabar con estas diferencias es un reto muy importante. Todas las personas nos merecemos vivir dignamente y tener los mismos recursos y oportunidades. Para llevarlo a cabo, se elabora una clasificación de los países menos desarrollados, así como una lista de los objetivos fijados por parte de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para acabar con los problemas y desigualdades. Además, se estudia la evolución de la población y sus antecedentes. Finalmente, se analiza como influye el crecimiento demográfico en el crecimiento y desarrollo económico de un país.This project consists in the study of the importance of the population growth in the less development countries. Nowadays exists big inequalities among the countries, which prevail in the human race for ages. Therefore it has been developed several goals to equilibrate the balance between one another. So it is really important to eradicate with these differences. Everybody deserves to live with the same rights and opportunities, so they should have a worthy life. To carry the project out I will elaborate a classification of the underdeveloped countries, also I will make a list with the fixed goals of the United Nations to end up with the problems and inequalities. Furthermore I will make a study of the evolution in the population and its background. I will analyze how the demographic growth affects the economic development and growth in the countries.Graduado o Graduada en Administración y Dirección de Empresas por la Universidad Pública de NavarraEnpresen Administrazio eta Zuzendaritzan Graduatua Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa

Computational investigation of the ionization and photo-ionization of hydrogen halide acids in water clusters

The ionization of hydrogen halide acids HX (X=Cl, Br) in the presence of water in the ground and excited electronic states is an important fundamental process, with possible implications for the ozone layer depletion. Experimental investigations of acid dissociation and hydration of ion pairs [X - (H 2 O) n H 3 O + ] at the molecular level are hindered by instrument limitations, and to date, theoretical studies address the mechanism of acid ionization in polar and non-polar solvents only partially. This thesis aims at characterizing ground-state acid-water complexation and ionization, and possible effects of water on the ionization of HX in electronically excited states. As for ground-state ionization, the structures of HCl and HBr in aqueous clusters of different sizes were characterized with second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), and coupled cluster theory with single, double and perturbative triple excitations [CCSD(T)], paying particular attention to the critical number of water molecules needed for acid ionization to occur. Combined results from the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (AIM) and infrared (IR) vibrational spectra analyses are used to unambiguously characterize the nature of bonding in acid-water clusters. Global minimum-energy cluster structures suggest that both HCl and HBr form ionized complexes in the presence of four water molecules. As for possible excited-state ionization of hydrogen halides, the excited-state electronic structures and potential energy curves of gas-phase HBr were first obtained from multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) calculations. Investigation of the influence of water molecules on the excited-state potential energy curves of HBr then revealed the feasibility of excited-state ionization, and thus photo-ionization in water clusters, due to opening of an ion-pair dissociation channel. This work thus claims the interpretation of recent experimental findings [Science, 2002], in which HBr photo-ionization was observed in small water clusters, but not for clusters larger than size 4, presumably because of ground-state ionization that quenches the HBr photo-ionization channel

Spatiotemporal Summation of Perimetric Stimuli in Early Glaucoma

PURPOSE: To investigate achromatic temporal summation under the conditions of standard automated perimetry (SAP), using a Goldmann III (GIII) stimulus and a stimulus scaled to the local area of complete spatial summation (Ricco's area) in open-angle glaucoma (OAG) patients and healthy age-similar control participants. METHODS: Twenty patients with OAG (mean age, 63 years; mean MD, -3.3 dB) and 15 healthy controls (mean age, 64 years) were recruited. Contrast thresholds were measured for seven stimulus durations (1-24 frames, 1.8-191.9 ms) using a near-GIII stimulus (0.48° diameter) and stimuli scaled to the local Ricco's area, in four oblique meridians at 8.8° eccentricity in the visual field. The upper limit of complete temporal summation (critical duration) was estimated using iterative two-phase regression analysis. RESULTS: Median critical duration values were significantly longer (P < 0.05) in the OAG group for the near-GIII (107.2 ms; interquartile range [IQR], 38.0-190.5) and Ricco's area-scaled (83.2 ms, 41.7-151.4) stimuli, compared to those in healthy subjects (near-GIII, 34.7 ms; 18.2-47.9; Ricco's area-scaled, 49.0 ms; 25.1-64.6). The greatest difference in contrast thresholds between healthy and OAG subjects (i.e., disease signal) was found when stimuli were scaled to Ricco's area and shorter than or equal to the critical duration in healthy observers. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal summation is altered in glaucoma. The stimulus duration and area of conventional SAP may be suboptimal for identifying early functional damage. Simultaneously modulating stimulus duration, area, and luminance during the examination may improve the diagnostic capability of SAP and expand the dynamic range of current instruments

Playability of serious games in information literacy : the findings of the European project NAVIGATE

The article deals with the playability of serious games in information literacy applied by academic libraries and university departments in Library and Information Sciences in the training sessions with students. Is it possible for these games to be more playful and what is path we must follow to achieve this goal? In the literature review on the concepts of playfulness/gamefulness we are focusing on two opposite sides of a spectrum presented by Roger Caillois: Paidia (or playing; for pure joy, without any goals) and Ludus (or gaming; based on rules and competition). The author’s view is that the games can be at either end or somewhere in the middle (Caillois & Barash, 2001). We have a hypothesis that the serious games in information literacy can never be only playful but if they contain a higher level of playability it will be easier for the students to achieve the learning objectives set by the university teachers and librarians. In the framework of the European project NAVIGATE – Information Literacy: A Gamebased Learning Approach for Avoiding Fake Content (https://navigateproject.eu) 70 games used for teaching information literacy in academic libraries and programs were identified and evaluated. We have selected among them 20 best examples of such games and ranked them according to the following criteria: Playability, Lastability, Engagement, User Interface, and Storytelling. An interactive database (https://www.navigateproject.eu/navigamesearch-tool/) was created in order to visualize the list and the categories (the NaviGAMESearcher). Taking into account the results of the evaluation of the top information literacy games and the two original digital games developed within the project (Information Trap Manager and the Navigator) we analyzed where are these games located on the scale of playfulness versus gamefulness and what is the correlation between the level of playability of these games and the students’ achievements. The further steps for evaluation of information literacy games according to the Playful Experiences (PLEX) framework were also defined in the article