Editorial Note: Rhodopes Mountains - a fairy tale in green – Part III (Western Rhodopes)

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Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf. is included in the List of Top 10 of the worst invasive alien plant species in Bulgaria. This is the fastest spreading species of the four species of the Opuntia genus found so far in natural habitats in Bulgaria. In the period 2010-2023, 3 new localities of the species were established in 3 new floristic regions of Bulgaria: Black Sea Coast (North), Stara Planina (East) and Strandzha Mountain. They describe the northernmost and easternmost distribution limits of the species in Bulgaria. The described localities are different in area: from 0.08 ha to 21.11 ha. The characteristics of the abiotic environment are presented such as: slope, exposure, elevation, bedrock, soil, climatic region and subregion. The habitats in which individuals of the species are found are indicated. Accompanying plant species were studied. The spatial structure of O. humifusa populations was studied. The reasons for the appearance and spread of this invasive alien plant species in territories that have not been inhabited by it until now have been examined, considering that these reasons are not natural, but have an anthropogenic character. Our findings support the opinions of other researchers about the key role of nature lovers in the spread of this invasive species. Factors favoring the increase in population size in established localities are indicated. Methods have been proposed to control the spread of the species.
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<italic>Opuntia humifusa</italic> (Raf.) Raf. (Cactaceae) in the Bulgarian flora

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Current studies are focused on medicinal plants secondary metabolites as a source of new anticancer agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro influence of methanolic extracts of Achillea thracica Velen. from natural habitat, in vitro propagated and ex vitro established plants on tumor cells proliferation/viability. All extract tested (50 µg/ml for 24 hours) significantly inhibited SK-HEP-1 cell line proliferation/viability (Р ≤ 0.05). The inhibitory effect of ex vitro established plants was slightly weaker in comparison with A. thracica grown in its natural habitat. So, ex situ conservation of A. thracica enables an opportunity to explore its valuable phytochemicals.
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Anticancer activity of <italic>Achillea thracica</italic> Velen. methanol extracts

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The Stara planina tourist region is one of the most attractive regions for tourism in Bulgaria and one of the few that have almost year-round tourist activities. The outline of the area includes the mountain of the same name, but also the Pre-Balkan. This fact predetermines the exceptional richness and diversity of natural tourist resources. Here are some of the largest broad-leaved forests in the country, waterfalls, bizarre rock formations, etc. The relatively well-preserved natural environment is a prerequisite for the presence of exceptional biodiversity, as well as a significant number of protected areas. The region is specialized mainly in mountain tourism, including recreation, mountain trekking, rural and ecotourism. Due to the scarce tourist infrastructure, ski tourism still lags behind in its development compared to other mountain regions in the country. Very often, the Stara planina Region is primarily identified with its cultural and historical heritage, while its natural features remain in the background. Regardless of this, and as a result of the more intense tourist load, the problem of protecting natural tourist resources from the growing anthropogenic pressure is gaining special relevance. There is also an urgent need to identify and evaluate the prospects for sustainable development of the tourism industry in the region.
The purpose of the present study is to valorize the natural tourist resources of the Stara planina tourist region and to provide guidelines for their sustainable use.
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Natural tourist resources in the Stara planina tourist region (Bulgaria)

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Environmental competence is a category related to environmental awareness, environmental culture, environmental ethics and environmental behaviour and is a key competence. An efficient way to build a public awareness of environmental responsibility is to separate waste, a concept that is now widespread across Europe. Project work is an integrative strategy that provides opportunities for cooperation and interaction between students in the team organization of cognitive activity, realizing the connection between theoretical knowledge and practical activity of students, for conducting active training of students and effective socialization of the training, thus increasing the practical focus of the acquired knowledge and competences.
The article presents results following the application of the project method as an opportunity to increase the environmental competence of junior high school students, with regards to sustainable waste management at school and in their households.
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The ability to form environmental competence throughout Waste management

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Every scientist at the beginning of his professional career inevitably encounters difficulties in developing scientific publications. These obstacles are often related with the preparation of the introductory section, which relies on existing research and from the mastery of various statistical approaches, understanding results and their interpretation. The aim of this study is to assess to what extent ChatGPT can streamline the process of writing scientific publications in the field of plant breeding and how it can be beneficial as an auxiliary tool. ChatGPT cannot entirely write the introductory section for you, but it can generate adequate ideas and fundamental aspects that the author can utilize and further develop for the elaboration of this part. ChatGPT can perform basic statistical analyses commonly used in such studies, which adequately align with the developments implemented in other statistical software.
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Enhancing efficiency in scientific writing in the field of plant growing: Collaborating with AI assistant ChatGPT for enhanced productivity

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Volume 11 (2024): Issue 1 (March 2024)

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Acta Scientifica Naturalis

 Acta Scientifica Naturalis is the official journal of the Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen and has been published with no major interruptions since 1973 under the name of the Annual of the Konstantin Preslavsky University- Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Geography.  The main objective of Acta Scientifica Naturalis is to publish original research findings in the fields of the Natural Sciences and related sciences:   Chemistry - Atmospheric Chemistry, Bioinorganic Chemistry, Bioorganic Chemistry, Catalysis, Combinatorial Chemistry, Computational Chemistry, Coordination Chemistry, Geochemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Macromolecular Chemistry, Materials Science, Medicinal Chemistry, Ocean Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Organometallic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Supramolecular Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry.  Biology and Ecology - Animals Physiology, Anthropology, Applied Ecology, Biochemistry, Bioecology,　Biophysics, Botany, Cell Biology, Embryology, Entomology, General Ecology, Genetics, Helminthology, Human Physiology, Hydrobiology, Immunology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics, Morphology, Mycology, Neurobiology, Parasitology, Plant Physiology, Radiobiology, Virology, Zoology.  Plant Growing and Plant Protection - Biological Plant Protection, Cereals, Entomology, Fruit growing, Herbology, Horticulture, Integrated Plant Protection, Legumes, Phytopathology, Technical crops, Vegetable production, Viticulture.  Physics - Atomic and Molecular Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Electromagnetism, Gas Discharge and Plasma Physics, High Energy Physics, Hydrodynamics, Interdisciplinary Physics, Mathematical Physics, Medical Physic, Neutron Physics and Nuclear Reactor, Nuclear Physics, Particle Physics, Radiophysics and Electronics, Theoretical Physics, Thermal Physics, Wave Physics.  Astronomy and Astrophysics - Applied Geophysics, Astrophysics and Stellar Astronomy, Atmospheric Physics, Earth Magnetism and Gravimetry, Geophysics, Heliophysics, Meteorology, Near-Earth Space Physics, Oceanic Physics, Seismology, Stellar Mechanics.  Earth Sciences - Cartography, Climate Change, Geodemography, Geography of Tourism, Geomorphology, GIS, Hydrology, Morphostructurs, Morphotectonic, Paleogeography, Quaternary Movements, Risk, Social Geography.　  Tourism - Cognitive Tourism, Ecotourism, Extreme Tourism, Mountain Tourism, Recreational Tourism, River Tourism, Rural Tourism, Sea Tourism, etc.   The abbreviated title of the journal is ASN, which should be used in bibliographies, footnotes and bibliographical references strips.  Article Publication Charges (APC)  OA Text journals are open access, we do not charge the end user when accessing a manuscript or any article. This allows the scientific community to view, download, distribution of an article in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited. In line with other open access journals we provide a flat fee (EUR 120.00) submission structure on the acceptance of a peer-reviewed article which covers in part the entirety of the publication pathway (the article processing charge). The process includes our maintenance, submission and peer review systems and international editing, publication and submission to global indexing and tracking organisations and archiving to allow instant access to the whole article and associated supplementary documents.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.  Open Access License  This journal provides immediate open access to its content under the Creative Commons BY 3.0 license. Authors who publish in this journal agree to the terms of the Creative Commons BY 3.0 license. 

Acta Scientifica Naturalis

Volume 10 (2023): Issue 3 (November 2023)

Editorial Note: Rhodopes Mountains - a fairy tale in green – Part III (Western Rhodopes)

Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf. (Cactaceae) in the Bulgarian flora

Anticancer activity of Achillea thracica Velen. methanol extracts

Natural tourist resources in the Stara planina tourist region (Bulgaria)

The ability to form environmental competence throughout Waste management

Enhancing efficiency in scientific writing in the field of plant growing: Collaborating with AI assistant ChatGPT for enhanced productivity

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