Establishment and development of the Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian research landscape, presented mainly by the research institutes that are part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Agricultural Academy, needs diversification to match the research and innovation potential of the other European Union (EU) countries. This article describes the establishment of the Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology (CPSBB), a new innovative type of independent research organization that is changing the research landscape in Bulgaria. Supported by the EU Commission, Bulgarian Government, and Plovdiv Municipality, CPSBB has quickly become the leading plant science institute in Bulgaria, creating knowledge in diverse fields such as bioinformatics, biotechnology, genetics and genomics, metabolomics, and systems biology. We outline the organizational structure of CPSBB, the development of its infrastructure, and its scientific productivity. Finally, we compare CPSBB with other similar research establishments in Europe and we conclude that such new types of institutes have a bright future in Bulgaria due to their operational flexibility, productivity, and connections with academia and industry.

The use of micropulse laser in patients with diabetic macular edema at the Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty Hospital Hradec Králové.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the most frequent cause of decreased vision in patiens with diabetes type 2. DME is caused by increased permeability of macular capillaries. The aim of our study was to retrospectively evaluate the results of micropulse laser treatment, 577 nm wavelength, in pacients with DME with follow-up three months and one year. METHODS: The retrospective trial with one year follow-up includes 63 eyes of 37 patients with diabetic macular edema treated from September 2015 to January 2017.  Most patients had diabetes type 2 (34 patients), 3 patients had diabetes type 1. Diffuse DME was diagnosed in 54 eyes, focal DME in 9 eyes. Most of the patients (42 eyes) suffered from non proliferative diabetic retinopathy, 21 eyes showed signs of proliferative retinopathy. DME lasted on average for 29 months before initiating with micropulse laser (median 21 months). On average 1,56 laser visits were needed for the treatment of 1 eye, usually in 3 months interval. Photocoagulation of macula was performed in all patients by micropulse laser, 577 nm wavelenght/IQ 577TM IRIDEX). We used 5 % duty cycle. The average glycated hemoglobin in the group was 66,8 mmol/mol, maximal 100 mmol/mol. Estimated data were statistically evaluated by Friedman and Dunn´s test. RESULTS: At the end of 1 year period we found out improvement in BCVA (increase of at least 5 letters of ETDRS charts) in 20 eyes, 25 eyes showed stabilisation of BCVA (alltogether 71 % of the group), in 18 eyes we found out decrease of BCVA of more than 5 letters of ETDRS charts. On average we estimated decrease of visual acuity from 62 to 61,1 letters (p > 0,05). After one year we estimated 63 µm CRT decrease on average, from 442 µm to 379 µm (p= 0,0124). CONCLUSION: In our group of DME patiens treated by micropulse laser we have estimated BCVA stabilisation and signifiant improvement of macular edema in ¾ eyes, confirmed by OCT. We have estimated clinically significant decrease of macular edema in the whole group with one-year follow-up.

Local thermal sensation modeling-a review on the necessity and availability of local clothing properties and local metabolic heat production.

Local thermal sensation modeling gained importance due to developments in personalized and locally applied heating and cooling systems in office environments. The accuracy of these models depends on skin temperature prediction by thermophysiological models, which in turn rely on accurate environmental and personal input data. Environmental parameters are measured or prescribed, but personal factors such as clothing properties and metabolic rates have to be estimated. Data for estimating the overall values of clothing properties and metabolic rates are available in several papers and standards. However, local values are more difficult to retrieve. For local clothing, this study revealed that full and consistent data sets are not available in the published literature for typical office clothing sets. Furthermore, the values for local heat production were not verified for characteristic office activities, but were adapted empirically. Further analyses showed that variations in input parameters can lead to local skin temperature differences (∆Tskin,loc  = 0.4-4.4°C). These differences can affect the local sensation output, where ∆Tskin,loc  = 1°C is approximately one step on a 9-point thermal sensation scale. In conclusion, future research should include a systematic study of local clothing properties and the development of feasible methods for measuring and validating local heat production.

Prevalence of dental caries in dentistry students.

The study evaluates dental caries prevalence in dentistry students. They represent a sample of individuals with good dental status, socio-economical level and access to dental care. The values of teeth number with decay and filling and values of surfaces of teeth with decay and filling indices in group with lower caries incidence give the information as to what could be achieved by systemic care and prevention of dental caries in whole population (Tab. 4. Ref. 25).

Linkage analysis in bipolar pedigrees adds support for a susceptibility locus on 21q22.

Several studies provide suggestive evidence of a susceptibility locus for bipolar disorder at chromosome 21q22-23. In an attempt to replicate these findings, we have analyzed linkage to 11 polymorphic markers from this region in 18 Bulgarian pedigrees with affective disorder. Two-point linkage analysis under assumption of homogeneity and a dominant model with reduced penetrance produced modest positive values for some of the markers tested under a 'narrow' phenotype definition, including bipolar I and II, and schizoaffective disorder. The maximum two-point score (lod=1.76, theta=0.00) was at marker D21S1919. Non-parametric linkage analysis under the same phenotype model, yielded positive NPLall values (P<0.05) over the region between markers D21S211 and D21S416, with a peak at D21S1252 (NPL Zall=2.32, P=0.0003). The multipoint lod score (GENEHUNTER) reached a suggestive value for linkage (lod=2.10) also at marker D21S1252. The results under a recessive model were completely negative. These data add to the evidence for the existence of a susceptibility locus for bipolar affective disorder on chromosome 21q22.