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Air quality in Bulgaria—Monitoring data, perspectives, scientific research
Get PDFThis paper addresses air quality in Bulgaria, a pressing environmental issue with monitoring data indicating persistent challenges in urban areas due to pollutants like PM10 and NO2. Bulgaria’s government operates a comprehensive air quality monitoring network, offering real-time data to track pollutants across multiple regions. Scientific research in this area focuses on identifying pollution sources, assessing public health impacts, and developing models for pollution control. Efforts to improve air quality include implementing stricter regulations, investing in green technologies, and conducting public awareness campaigns. Future research emphasizes sustainable urban planning, the adoption of renewable energy, and advanced monitoring technologies to strengthen air quality management in Bulgaria
Sustainable development goals through participatory video and digital storytelling
Get PDFThis study focuses on a training experience that took place in the academic year 2021–2022 at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia. A hands-on workshop on ICTeEfS focusing on Participatory Video (PV) and Digital Storytelling (DST) involved 210 teachers in the creation of videos with a two-fold objective: 1) embedding SDGs in school curricula enabled by PV/DST methodologies and 2) innovating teaching methodologies by merging digital and green skills. The process of creating PV/DST videos included a 15-step methodology integrated into four interacting phases starting from planning, moving to production, and then utilization/dissemination. The PV/DST applications produced could be used as learning resources to enrich the school curricula. Uploading PV/DST to school or social media accounts was a good method to get the message out to a wider audience while empowering teachers to address SDGs. The results can be used as guiding principles for teacher educators and teachers as well as for policymakers to integrate PV/DST in teaching, learning, and curricula addressing SDGs
Approximation results of Phillips type operators including exponential function
Get PDFThe current article deals with a study on some moderation of the Phillips operators, including constant and exponential functions. Here, we derive the moments applying the notion of moment-generating function for the well-known Phillips operators. The authors also establish uniform convergence estimates for the improved form of these operators. Additionally, some direct estimates involving the asymptotic-type results are discussed
A portfolio optimization model under uncertain random environment
Get PDFUncertain events frequently occur in today’s financial markets. Consequently, the issue of portfolio selection is becoming increasingly significant. This paper thoroughly considers the complexities of stock returns in real-world scenarios and employs uncertain differential equations (UDE), uncertain time series analysis (UTSA), stochastic differential equations (SDE), and random time series analysis (RTSA) to predict stock returns, thereby enhancing the accuracy of these predictions. Furthermore, this paper addresses investors’ preferences and the limitations of using variance as a measure of investment risk. It introduces a risk preference factor and proposes an uncertain random mean-lower variance model. Finally, a genetic algorithm is utilized to solve the model, and numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the model’s practicality
Tetralogy of Fallot with an anomalous origin of right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery in a case of type A aortopulmonary window—A diagnostic challenge
Get PDFAortopulmonary (AP) window is a conotruncal defect with an incidence of < 1% amongst congenital heart defects. It often occurs in association with other congenital cardiac defects. Coronary artery anomalies in association with the AP window are infrequent. An anomalous right coronary artery (RCA) from the pulmonary artery (ARCAPA) is an extremely rare entity with 0.002% incidence in the general population. To the best of our knowledge, the triad of Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), ARCAPA and AP window is not yet reported in the literature
Bartonella quintana endocarditis: A case report
Get PDFEndocarditis is a rare and potentially fatal infection of the endocardium. Bartonella endocarditis is an emerging disease that causes serious complications and high rates of mortality. Due to the fastidious nature of Bartonella species and their high degrees of antibiotic susceptibility, cultures of clinical samples most often remain sterile. The best specimens for polymerase chain reaction amplification are seldom available. The diagnosis of Bartonella infections relies mainly on serological methods. We report the case of a 58-year-old woman with dyslipidemia who presented with nocturnal fever, polyarthralgia, sweats and weight loss. The diagnosis of Bartonella endocarditis was confirmed by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Medical treatment alone was efficient for our patient without any surgery
Fast and simultaneous analysis of two immunosuppressants in whole blood using high-performance liquid chromatography
Get PDFCyclosporine A and sirolimus are commonly used immunosuppressants in organ transplantation, known for their complementary and synergistic mechanisms of action. However, due to their narrow therapeutic index and critical dosing requirements, maintaining their concentrations within a specific blood range is essential for optimal efficacy and safety. This study systematically compared the chromatographic behaviors of cyclosporine A and sirolimus using a biological liquid chromatography (BioLC) column and traditional liquid chromatography (TraLC) columns under identical conditions. The results indicated that the BioLC column, specifically ZORBAX 300SB C8 (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5.0 μm), provided the highest peak heights and the narrowest peak widths for both drugs. The number of theoretical plates for both drugs significantly increased on this column when acetonitrile in the mobile phase exceeded 70%. Retention times on both column types were minimally affected by formic acid and trifluoroacetic acid in the mobile phases. Additionally, the ZORBAX 300SB C8 column exhibited a higher number of theoretical plates and a distinct relationship between retention factor and column temperature compared to the TraLC columns. For analysis, a 50 μL whole blood sample was prepared through protein precipitation with 1 mol/L sodium hydroxide, extracted into 500 μL ether-methanol (95:5, v/v), and then centrifuged. The organic layer was evaporated under nitrogen at 50 ℃, and the residue was reconstituted in 200 μL methanol. Cyclosporine A and sirolimus were then separated via isocratic elution on the ZORBAX 300SB C8 column
Characteristics, diagnosis and analysis of some indicators in the agricultural sector of the Trinidad Municipality, Cuba
Get PDFIn the new policy established by the Cuban state for the agricultural sector, the achievement of food sovereignty and sustainability of said sector is established as a basic principle, which was endorsed in the current Law of Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security. For this reason, each municipality in the country, and under certain levels of autonomy, must guarantee compliance with the aforementioned law. For this, strict control of the structures of the territorial agricultural system and the behavior of its structures is necessary. With the completion of this work, the characterization, diagnosis and evaluation of some sustainability indicators for the agricultural sector in the Trinidad Municipality were established as objectives, in the period between 2015 and 2020, for this a work team was created that was able to collect, organize, analyze, compare and evaluate the information that appeared in the National Office of Statistics and Information of the Republic of Cuba, between the years 2015 and 2020, finding as one of the results that the workforce indicator used in this sector has suffered a drastic decrease, not guaranteeing the man-area relationship necessary to achieve food sovereignty and the sustainability of the sector at a territorial level
Dialect diversity and market integration: From the perspective of city circle
Get PDFChina, as a transitional economy, faces a high level of market segmentation among administrative regions, which lowers the efficiency of resource allocation and the total factor productivity (TFP) rate. The literature has focused on the negative effects of local protectionism and administrative division on the formation of market integration in the economic growth process. However, considering that administrative districts such as prefectures usually overlap with cultural regions in China, the effects of local protectionism and administrative division on market segmentation may be overestimated because cultural diversity may also be negatively related to market integration. More importantly, diversity of dialect tends to increase the cost of communication, making it a barrier to labor migration and decreasing the level of generalized trust among people. As a result, it may have adverse effects on the market integration process. Recently, more empirical works have explored the relationship between cultural diversity, which they usually measure as the number of dialects and amount of economic growth in the region, and have generally shown consistent results. For example, a study has shown that dialect diversity has adverse effects on GDP per capita. Another finds that dialect diversity and not genetic differences can explain regional disparities in China to a large extent. Similarly, Scholars indicates that dialect diversity has adverse effects on the productivity of neighboring counties. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, few works reveal the impact of dialect diversity on the level of market segmentation among regions in China. Taking a somewhat different approach, we directly focus on the effects of dialect diversity on market segmentation. Empirically, to estimate the causal effects of dialect diversity on market segmentation, we randomly build the synthetic metropolitan area as the fundamental analysis unit in which a core prefecture borders several other governorates. Consequently, within the artificial metropolitan area, the number of dialects and amount of market segmentation can be measured. Given that the synthetic metropolitan area does not belong to any particular administrative district, the differences in market segmentation between synthetic metropolitan areas are attributed to variations in dialect and other economic or geographic factors rather than the administrative division between areas. Based on the method developed, this paper uses the seven categories of retail prices in prefectures in 2016 to calculate the market segmentation index of each synthetic metropolitan area, which it takes as the dependent variable. Furthermore, this paper constructs a dialect diversity index for each synthetic metropolitan area, which it takes as the key independent variable. The results show that diversity of dialect is a critical factor in lowering the amount of market integration in China. The findings are robust to various checks. Furthermore, this paper takes the number of local theatrical genres as an instrumental variable of dialect diversity. The instrumented estimations show that a one-dialect increase in the synthetic metropolitan area increases the amount of market segmentation by about 2.42%. The amount of market segmentation in the synthetic metropolitan area, which has the average number of dialects, is 8.23% higher than in areas with only one dialect. The empirical results imply that it is essential to weaken local protectionism and enhance cultural integration between regions to decrease market segmentation. This paper makes three contributions to the literature. First, it enriches the broad interpretations of the causes of market segmentation from the dialect diversity viewpoint. Second, it directly estimates the effects of dialect diversity on market segmentation and determines the long-term effects of cultural factors, providing new cultural economics evidence from China. Third, this paper contributes to the literature analyzing the underlying mechanisms behind dialect diversity and growth, suggesting that market segmentation is another mechanism used to understand this causal relationship
Traditional knowledge in the approach to sustainability: Making sense of Bhutanese gross national happiness and Buen Vivir in Bolivian constitution
Get PDFIn the past few decades, due to the global environmental crisis humanity is facing, a sudden growth in environmental policies and sustainability strategies has been registered. This article discusses two of such policies, namely that of Gross National Happiness (GNH) in the Himalayan country of Bhutan and the inclusion of the concept of Buen Vivir (BV) in the Bolivian Constitution, through a critical analysis—based on political ecology approaches—of their implementation within state policy and their wider implications within the global discourse on the so-called “sustainable development” paradox. This paper highlights the role that the aforementioned policies might play in the path to decolonization, seeing as how they draw inspiration from their own local contexts and values instead of those provided by the Global North, more specifically focusing on their ancestral and traditional knowledge to supposedly guide the countries’ policy-making process. Although several points of criticism are identified in both policies, innovativeness is detected in their potential to offer alternative views on human wellbeing, both for global southern and global northern contexts, as their original intent would be to remarkably operate outside of the Western framework of development based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and economic growth. GNH appears to be mostly oriented toward supporting political national budget discussion and allocation, while BV acts at a higher level (constitutional), thus also inspiring overall politics