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The objective of our study was to compare the age-related differences in the prevalence of modifiable risk factors (RF), stroke subtype and functional outcome at hospital discharge in young and middle-aged patients with first-ever ischemic stroke (IS). The study included 120 patients with acute first-ever IS, aged 18–59 years, admitted to the Neurology Clinic of Dr. Georgi Stranski University Hospital, Pleven. Of these, 41 (34.2%) were in the young-age group and 79 (65.8%) were middle-aged. The middle-aged patients had higher rates of arterial hypertension (81.0%), diabetes mellitus (45.6%), dyslipidemia (83.5%), low levels of HDL cholesterol (68.4%), high levels of LDL cholesterol (72.2%) and arterial fibrillation (7.6%). The most common subtype of IS in middle-aged patients was large artery atherosclerosis (40.5%), small vessel occlusion (29.1%) and cardioembolism (6.3%). In comparison, we found a higher incidence of IS in the young patients with other determined (34.1%) and undetermined aetiology (34.1%). Our data on functional outcomes at hospital discharge confirm age-related differences in the prevalence of modifiable RFs and stroke subtype in young and middle-aged patients with first-ever IS. These findings highlight the need to develop specific therapeutic approaches for early identification and effective control of health- and lifestyle-related RFs to reduce the incidence of the most common subtypes of IS.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic demonstrated the importance of proper understanding of the epidemiology of viral infections in the modern cosmopolitan world. In this retrospective study, we analyzed different factors associated with the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the Sandanski municipality, a small and isolated region of Bulgaria, with a classical continental Mediterranean climate. We collected 418 serum samples from people without symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection or other respiratory diseases. The samples were tested for COVID-19 markers with qualitative and quantitative ELISA for anti-N and anti-S antibodies, and a rapid test for (IgM/G) antibodies. The methods were applied to complement each other with the different characteristics each of them has, thus allowing us to perform more accurate and more comprehensive detection of serum antibodies and to analyze the virus spread. We compared the results with the official government data for the SARS-CoV-2 distribution in Bulgaria. Based on the obtained results and available literature data, we discuss the importance of popular diagnostic methods, the role of the climate, the travel of people and pets, psychological stress and the individual reaction of subjects related to the spread of the virus.

The study demonstrates an application of actual technologies and tools for the development of an axial-flux electricity generator. The specifics of its application—a run-of-river sited power station—predefine some of the design parameters that are close to a wind turbine generator. An extensive study of available solutions is used as a starting point for further concept development. The study aims to provide a viable solution for a large-scale electrical machine. A step-based methodology is defined for concept parameters’ assessment and a feasibility study. It demonstrates the advantages of virtual prototyping when assessing various design parameters such as air gaps, coil thickness, and the number of rotor disks. Several simulations over different virtual prototypes provide sufficient information to elaborate an improved design concept. The major result is a ready-for-detailed design concept, with defined major parameters and studied work behavior for a specific, large structure of an electrical machine. Another important result is the presentation of the application of virtual prototyping in the assessment of large structures, for which physical prototyping is an expensive and time-consuming approach. The application of virtual prototyping at a very early product development stage is an effective way to undertake efficient solutions involving the concept of the product.

The article presents work on developing a software application for test creation using artificial intelligence and large language models. Its main goal is to optimize the educators’ work by automating the process of test generation and evaluation, with the tests being stored for subsequent analysis and use. The application can generate test questions based on specified criteria such as difficulty level, Bloom’s taxonomy level, question type, style and format, feedback inclusion, and more, thereby providing opportunities to enhance the adaptability and efficiency of the learning process. It is developed on the Google Firebase platform, utilizing the ChatGPT API, and also incorporates cloud computing to ensure scalability and data reliability.

Background and Objectives: Patients with atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease represent a group with a greater risk of mortality. To evaluate patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and a significant coronary bifurcation lesion and compare the clinical outcomes between the patients on anticoagulant treatment with Vitamin K antagonist (VKA) and those on direct anticoagulant (DOAC). Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study of patients with AF and stable coronary artery disease, who had evidence of a significant coronary bifurcation lesion. A log-rank test was used to assess the difference in mortality between patients taking VKA and those on DOAC. The primary endpoint was the incidence of all-cause and cardiovascular death at mid-term. Results: A total of 226 patients with AF and a significant bifurcation lesion were included. The mean age was 70.9 ± 9.2, and 70% were males. Of the patients, 123 (54.7%) were on VKA treatment, and 103 (45.3%) were taking DOAC. For a median follow-up time of 55 (39–96) months, overall mortality was 40%, whereas CV mortality was 31%. Both all-cause (28.2% versus 50.4%, p = 0.020) and CV death (12.7% versus 24.9%, p = 0.032) were significantly lower in patients taking DOAC versus those on VKA. In patients treated with PCI, CV mortality was significantly lower in patients taking DOAC (21.4% versus 40.5%, p = 0.032). VKA therapy was an independent predictor of cardiovascular death (HR 1.88; 95% CI 1.11–3.18; p = 0.01), together with chronic kidney disease (HR 1.81; 95% CI 1.13–2.92; p = 0.01). Conclusions: Treatment with DOAC in patients with atrial fibrillation and coronary bifurcation lesion was associated with significantly lower mortality independently of the treatment approach. VKA was an independent predictor of CV mortality.

The consortium of “The Future is in Applied Artificial Intelligence” Project designed the first competency-based applied artificial intelligence curriculum at the higher-education institution level. The development was based on advanced system research on existing artificial intelligence-related resources and surveying target groups of teachers, information technology students, and employers, which should enhance the performance of implementing artificial intelligence education. A review of applied artificial intelligence was prepared in the form of keyword clustering. The initial data were collected with the help of surveying by identifying job offers, existing artificial intelligence training courses, scientific projects, and real cases. A synthetic analysis of the textual information from the studies was conducted using the word clouds technique. A tensor-based approach was used for the presentation of the competency-based course. The specific numerical requirements for the course in the form of priorities followed from the solution to decision-making problems using the analytic hierarchy process technique. Based on a comprehensive study of surveys, educational experience, scientific projects, and business requirements, and a meta-analysis of the recent references, we specified the criteria for a training course in the form of a tensor-based representation of competencies in relation to content and educational modules.

The present study aims to establish the genetic-diagnostic characteristic of Ferric Leptosols and Nudilithic Ferric Leptosols which are formed on rocks with high iron content. Thise soils are spread over hard red sandstones, quartzites and granite gneisses of the ridge parts and the upper (eluvium) parts of the slopes in the hilly part of the northeastern Sofia filed. The performed diagnostic assessment and characteristics give grounds to include the studied soils in the Bulgarian National Soil Classification at subtype taxonomic level as Ferric Lithozems and Ferric Rankers, and in WRB as Nudilithic Ferric Leptosols and Ferric Leptosols.

Proximal humerus presents the second most frequent site of posttraumatic osteonecrosis. This complication is usually related to poor functional outcomes. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the risk factors for posttraumatic humeral head osteonecrosis in surgically treated patients. Ninety-one patients with 92 acute proximal humeral fractures were operated on for a period of 39 months. Operative methods include open reduction and internal fixation and closed reduction and percutaneous fixation. Fractures were classified according to Neer, AO and LEGO classifications. The mean age of patients was 60.9 years. From 91 operated patients for follow-up were available 82. The mean follow-up period was 15 months. Patient data was collected prospectively. Functional results are present using age and gender adjusted Constant score. In 41 patients, the result is excellent, in 28-good, in 11-fair and in 3 poor. Bone union was evident in all cases. No deep wound infections, nerve injuries, vascular injuries and implant failure were observed. Osteonecrosis was seen in 5 (6.1%) patients. Patients with posttraumatic osteonecrosis had significant lower Constant results. Analyzing the pre- and intraoperative factors in patients with osteonecrosis, we find that the most significant factors for this complication are increasing fracture severity and а combination of short medial metaphyseal extension and disrupted medial hinge.

The use of innovative technology in the field of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) has gained significant attention nowadays. Despite being a promising research area, Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) have not been thoroughly studied and used in SLT. This paper makes two main contributions: firstly, providing a comprehensive review of existing research on the use of SARs to enhance communication skills in children and adolescents. Secondly, organizing the information into tables that categorize the interactive play scenarios described in the surveyed papers. The inclusion criteria for play scenarios in the tables are based only on their effectiveness for SLT proven by experimental findings. The data, systematically presented in a table format, allow readers to easily find relevant information based on various factors, such as disorder type, age, treatment technique, robot type, etc. The study concludes that the despite limited research on the use of social robots for children and adolescents with communication disorders (CD), promising outcomes have been reported. The authors discuss the methodological, technical, and ethical limitations related to the use of SARs for SLT in clinical or home environments, as well as the huge potential of conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a secondary assistive technology to facilitate speech and language interventions.

The area of cybersecurity problems has reached the stage of becoming a science. This raises questions about the connection between the mathematical theories used in cybersecurity research and their relation to the methodology for experiments and conceptual models synthesized from the academic community. This research proposes an analytical review of the mathematical ideas used in applied cyber-security and theoretical explorations. This meta viewpoint is dedicated to standard mathematical theories applied in cybersecurity issues. The ground of the work is methodological problems relating to the validation of experiments and models with mathematical ideas in the cybersecurity exploration of digital space. This research emphasizes the application of game theory, catastrophe theory, queuing systems, and Markov chains. The methods are shown without claiming to be exhaustive. The goal is to review the currently established implementation of mathematical approaches to cybersecurity. A spectrum of possibilities for applying mathematical apparatus in future research for cybersecurity is given. After a review of the literature for each presented mathematical approach, we expose a list of problematic areas in which this has already been implemented.

Clostridioides difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, anaerobic bacterium. The clinical features of C. difficile infections (CDIs) can vary, ranging from the asymptomatic carriage and mild self-limiting diarrhoea to severe and sometimes fatal pseudomembranous colitis. C. difficile infections (CDIs) are associated with disruption of the gut microbiota caused by antimicrobial agents. The infections are predominantly hospital-acquired, but in the last decades, the CDI patterns have changed. Their prevalence increased, and the proportion of community-acquired CDIs has also increased. This can be associated with the appearance of hypervirulent epidemic isolates of ribotype 027. The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated antibiotic overuse could additionally change the patterns of infections. Treatment of CDIs is a challenge, with only three appropriate antibiotics for use. The wide distribution of C. difficile spores in hospital environments, chronic persistence in some individuals, especially children, and the recent detection of C. difficile in domestic pets can furthermore worsen the situation. “Superbugs” are microorganisms that are both highly virulent and resistant to antibiotics. The aim of this review article is to characterise C. difficile as a new member of the “superbug” family. Due to its worldwide spread, the lack of many treatment options and the high rates of both recurrence and mortality, C. difficile has emerged as a major concern for the healthcare system.

Imagine a situation in which civic education has been enforced and practiced for nearly a decade and, as a result, the civic competences of the young people have dramatically decreased as compared with the previous national level. This situation is not a fictional one. It depicts the findings of a cross-national longitudinal survey. How come a generation which had not been exposed to the influence of civic education performed better in civic competences as compared with their followers a decade later? Who is to blame? The school teachers – for not having fulfilled their obligations? The school system – for failing to accomplish its socialization task? Or the particular civic education program – for being fake or ill-designed? Or may be we, the social scientists, have been unduly naïve about our expectations of civic education and its implementation in schools? The more important question is: to what extent does civic education fit in naturally with school life without clashing with it? Or put in another way, isn’t the classical tradition in the modern school essentially in contradiction with civic education? This problem takes the particular (Bulgarian) case beyond the boundaries of its national specificityand situates it at the level of a much more general question of the limits and preconditions of applicability of civic education, especially in regard to the expectation that it will form active citizens, capable of improving the democratic self-regulation of modern societies. The paper argues that the results of civic education should not be assessed in abstract form apart from the major factors concerning the socio-cultural, institutional and educational context. They are significantly dependent on the character of the national curriculum and the socialization programme specific for each country. Furthermore, schools, in their turn, are highly dependent on the role of civil society in the respective national societies, which feature vastly varying political cultures. The large portion of very low education achievements cannot be adduced to civic education per se, but to the wider alienation of young people from school life.

The authors claim that, to an extent, the marginalization is a by-product of relationship among sociology, citizenship education and school education in general. This relationship is pretty complex and problematic because each of the three constituents undergoes a phase of fundamental crisis of axiological and institutional character. The developments in American sociology that exemplifies the state of affairs in the field are taken as point of departure while the Bulgarian case is used just as a magnifying glass to see clearer the triple crises which bring us to the roots of the civilizational transformation experienced today.The moral of the story is that sociology has been marginalized in last decades because its public and academic status won by the previous generation can not be taken for granted. It does not correspond to the pressing demands of the changing world for a different type of sociology. Thus sociology falls easy prey to the academic competitors who follow aggressive strategy and policy of public expansion even in civil education. The particular situation in other countries may be different but these are common general rules of construing sociology. At the end the paper offers some guidelines for transformation of the pattern in which contemporary sociology should be practiced in order to raise its public and civic relevance through refocusing it on sophisticated mediation of public policy and actions of citizens and through new forms of cultural communication.

An analysis was made of the fatty-acid content of the dry biomass from green algae of Chlorella genus cultivated in Bulgaria, with the aim of establishing its effect on the content of total lipids, cholesterol, phospholipids and the fattyacid content of the table eggs. The fatty-acid composition of the dry biomass from green microalgae of Chlorella genus was characterized by its high content of α linolenic acid – 36,5 %, palmitic acid – 20,4 %, linoleic acid – 15 % and oleic acid – 10,3 % of the total amount of fatty acids in the product. Omega-3/Omega-6 fatty acids ratio in the biomass was 0,4. When adding 2 % and 10 % of alga biomass to the forage for the laying hens the total cholesterol content in 100 g of yolk decreased in the experimental groups compared to the control one, however, the differences were statistically insignifi cant. The supplement of 2 % and 10 % of the studied product exerted an effect on the fatty-acid content of the egg yolk and it led to the increase of the amount of palmitic and linoleic acids and to the decrease of the docosatetraenic acid.

The paper provides a concise overview of the state of arts of civil education in Bulgaria giving proofs that the contents and values of CE basically contradict the fundamental cultural pattern which is embedded in the institutional design of the school system and the policies of the Ministry of Education. There is a tremendous tension between critical and hypocritical education in democracy. The discrepancy between public “talk” and institutional “action” in civil education is more than overt. This is why the more we concentrate our attention on texts (textbooks, expert publications, manuals for teachers, etc.) the higher level of advancement of CE we will encounter and vice versa – the more we study the school life as practice the less traits of civil culture we register. Hence, the main conclusion is that civil education cannot substitute or get ahead of the democ-ratic institution building; both processes should develop in accord with each other. Or they both would turn out to be abortive.

Featured Application: A developed large-scale axial-flux generator is used for electricity generation at a run-of-river hydrokinetic power system. The system is to be used in a river with a high volumetric flow rate in Asia. The study demonstrates an application of actual technologies and tools for the development of an axial-flux electricity generator. The specifics of its application—a run-of-river sited power station—predefine some of the design parameters that are close to a wind turbine generator. An extensive study of available solutions is used as a starting point for further concept development. The study aims to provide a viable solution for a large-scale electrical machine. A step-based methodology is defined for concept parameters' assessment and a feasibility study. It demonstrates the advantages of virtual prototyping when assessing various design parameters such as air gaps, coil thickness, and the number of rotor disks. Several simulations over different virtual prototypes provide sufficient information to elaborate an improved design concept. The major result is a ready-for-detailed design concept, with defined major parameters and studied work behavior for a specific, large structure of an electrical machine. Another important result is the presentation of the application of virtual prototyping in the assessment of large structures, for which physical prototyping is an expensive and time-consuming approach. The application of virtual prototyping at a very early product development stage is an effective way to undertake efficient solutions involving the concept of the product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]