Some Anti-Heretic Fragments in the 14th Century Bulgarian Canon Law Miscellanies

It is well known that the major anti-heretic written source from the Second Bulgarian Empire is the Tsar Boril’s Synodicon, proved to have been compiled to serve the Synod against the Bogomils, convened in Tărnovo in 1211. However, the subsequent century is also marked by the anti- heretic line in various types of manuscripts which shape the image of the so called Second Golden Age of the Bulgarian literature and culture. The reign of John Alexander (1331–1371) is reputed to be the richest period of compiling miscellanies – encyclopedic, ascetic, and monastic, or for individual reading of the royal family and court. An important account of them is the manuscripts of legal content which vary from functional guides with Canon Law rules to complex compilations of material from diverse sources. They deserve to be investigated not only as a part of the cultural system but also as principal evidences how the mechanism of regulation in the tripartite relationship Law- Society-Culture has functioned. The latest discoveries and the up to day of the catalogued database of Slavonic manuscripts in the Bulgarian repositories and the Russian libraries proved the undisputable role of the Middle Bulgarian written tradition as transmitter of the official attitude against every deviation from the Orthodoxy in three main areas: 1. the traditional so called Christological heresies; 2. the heterodox dualist doctrines of Manicheans, Massalians and Paulicians, including Bogomils; 3. the Latins

WELFARE AND LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION OF LOW-WEALTH FAMILIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR LABOR SUPPLY

This paper examines the welfare and labor force participation of families potentially eligible for the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Higher wage rates and lower TANF benefits decrease the probability of welfare participation. For these families labor supply is moderately responsive to the wage.Labor and Human Capital,

BMI changes in Russian adults: the role of lifestyles and spousal relationships

BMI, Russia, lifestyle, Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy,

Obesity and Labor Market Outcomes in Post-Soviet Russia

obesity, labor market outcomes, Russia, Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy, Labor and Human Capital,

Early traces of the Second Demographic Transition in Bulgaria: a joint analysis of marital and non-marital union formation

In this paper, we study entry into the first conjugal union among young women in Bulgaria in 1980 through 2004 based on data from the national Gender and Generations Survey conducted in 2004. We use an extension of piecewise-constant hazard regression to analyze jointly the transition into a cohabitational union and directly into marriage. This extension will allow us to compare the relative risks of covariates across the two competing transitions, a comparison which infeasible otherwise. In this manner we find, among many other things, that women in the Roma sub-population have more than twice as high a tendency to start a cohabitation as to start a marriage at each age, ceteris paribus, while for ethnic Bulgarian women the relationship is more like 1.5. We also find that a pregnancy leads to a dramatic increase in the rate of both kinds of union formation; the increase is by a factor of over 20 for marriage formation and “only” a factor of around 10 for entry into cohabitation, again ceteris paribus. The standardized marriage intensity for non-pregnant women without children has fallen strongly by a factor of more than six over the period of investigation; the standardized rate of cohabitation has been much more stable and has only fallen by some forty percent, mostly toward the end of the period. These features have not appeared in previous analyses.Bulgaria

Lanthanide(III) complexes are more active inhibitors of the Fenton reaction than pure ligands

OBJECTIVES: This study is an extension to our finding of direct anti-oxidant activities of lanthanide(III) complexes with the heterocyclic compound, 5-aminoorotic acid (AOA). In this experiment, we used AOA and coumarin-3-carboxylic acid as the two heterocyclic compounds with anti-oxidant potential, to produce the complexes with different lanthanides. METHODS: Lanthanide(III) complexes were tested on the iron-driven Fenton reaction. The product of this reaction, the hydroxyl radical, was detected by HPLC. RESULTS: All complexes as well as their ligands had positive or neutral effect on the Fenton reaction but their behavior was different. Both pure ligands in low concentration ratio to iron were inefficient in contrast to some of their complexes. Complexes of neodymium, samarium, gadolinium, and partly of cerium blocked the Fenton reaction at very low ratios (in relation to iron) but the effect disappeared at higher ratios. In contrast, lanthanum complexes appeared to be the most promising. Both blocked the Fenton reaction in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSION: Lanthanide(III) complexes were proven to block the iron-driven production of the hydroxyl radical. Second, the lanthanide(III) element appears to be crucial for the anti-oxidant effect. Overall, lanthanum complexes may be promising direct anti-oxidants for future testing

DEMAND FOR ENHANCED FOODS AND THE VALUE OF NUTRITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS OF FOOD: THE CASE OF MARGARINES

This paper evaluates consumer preferences and choice of nutritionally enhanced food products based on economic, geographic, ethnic and other socioeconomic characteristics. Household scanner data allow estimation of hedonic price function and a probit model on the choice of margarine that promotes good health. The empirical estimation established a positive value for nutritional enhancement.scanner data, hedonic approach, demand for healthy food, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

DO FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS IMPROVE HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY?: RECENT EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES

Food assistance programs play an important role in meeting the basic needs of low income households. This paper examines the interaction among food stamps, labor force participation and food insecurity status of low-income households under different program design and economic conditions. A simultaneous equation model with three probit equations links the program, work force participation and outcome. Results based on the Survey of Program Dynamics data suggest that Food Stamp Program participation is more responsive to changes in the program benefits than to changes in unemployment rate or nonlabor income; food insecurity status is more responsive to changes in the food program benefit or unemployment rate, than to nonlabor income.food assistance, food security, hunger, and welfare programs, Food Security and Poverty,