Tom 9 (2022): Zeszyt 3 (November 2022)

This study is based on observations of MWC560 during the last two observational seasons (2020/2021 and 2021/2022). Other than looking for flickering we were interested in following the variability of brightness in the same period. Looking for similarities in the spectra with other types of stars is also of great interest to us because it could help clarify the stellar configuration of such objects. Our observations during the last two observational seasons of MWC560 confirm the absence of flickering. From the similarities of the gathered spectra of XX Oph and MWC560 we assume that the components in XX Oph are a red giant and a white dwarf, which are also surrounded by a common shell.

Nowadays, an increased interest towards the integration of the concept of ecosystem services has been observed, both in regards to processes related to forest and water resources management, as well as in the context of sustainable development of the economy on a local, regional and national level. In the most common case, what is referred to as forest ecosystem services are possible benefits, which man can reap directly or indirectly from ecosystem functions of forest territories. Therefore, it is of great importance to analyse and assess the interactions between the human factor with the conditions and processes through which forest ecosystems create and sustain ecosystem services. The water ecosystem service provided by forest territory could cause the need to process large amounts of spatial data in the form of forest management and hydrological information, as well as information about sanitary protection zones around water sources, in the context of the administrative territorial division of the country at different levels, creates considerable challenges. The difficulties are due to both the various electronic formats in which the necessary information is maintained, and the need to perform different operations on the input data for the purpose of analysis and decision making. The present paper investigates the possibilities of automating the processing of large volumes of spatial data in the context of the ecosystem water service, provided by forest territories by developing a set of tools operating into the environment of open source GIS. The main purpose is to develop a unified approach based on the use of GIS and suitable for the creation and implementation of methods for analysis and management of processes related to the ecosystem water service provided by forest territories. The approach can be applied in different sectors of the economy, public relations and the environment.

Interactions between pentacyclic triterpenes isolated from white birch (Betula pendula Roth.) bark samples from Northeast Bulgaria and bovine serum albumin or human serum albumin were investigated using fluorescence techniques. The experimental results show the formation of complexes between the isolated triterpenes with serum albumins. Quenching of the intrinsic fluorescence of human serum albumins was monitored by emission spectra of varied quencher concentration solutions. By analysing the fluorescence spectra and fluorescence intensity, some parameters of the serum albumins - quencher interaction were determined to evaluate the type of quenching. An extract containing the isolated triterpenes formed complexes with both bovine serum albumin and human serum albumin, leading to quenching the fluorescence of both albumins by a combined quenching mechanism.

At present, the inventory lists of the Myriapoda of many geographical areas in Bulgaria and the comparative analyzes of the similarity between such local faunas are scarce or completely missing. The present paper presents the results of the comparative analysis of α- and β-diversity of the myriapoda communities in natural habitats in two regions in Northeastern Bulgaria – the Shumen Plateau and the Madara Plateau. The compared habitats in these plateaus have similar geographical, soil and climatic conditions, and similar species composition of plant formations. The analysis of the structure of the myriapoda communities included estimation of species diversity by determining the Shannon-Wiever index (H’) and the Berger-Parker index (d). The degree of similarity between the species composition of the communities was analyzed by the Czekanowski-Dice-Sörensen, Jaccard, Bray-Curtis, Horn, Morisita-Horn indices and the corrected Chao-Sörensen and Chao-Jaccard indices. The species diversity of the millipede community in the Shumen Plateau is much greater than that of the Madara Plateau, while the diversity of the centipede communities in the two plateaus does not differ significantly. In both classes the greatest species diversity is registered in deciduous and mixed deciduous-coniferous forests. Chao-Sörensen and Chao-Jaccard indices of similarity for the myriapod communities in these habitats are the highest, approaching 1, in contrast to the other sites where the registered species composition of the centipedes is smaller and the degree of similarity is about 0.6.

Traditional knowledge is of real danger to be lost in modern society. This research is a part of an ethnobotanical survey aimed on documentation of current status of folk medicine in Central and Northeastern Bulgaria. Semi-structured interviews with local knowledgeable persons were provided. Quantitative ethnobotanical indices consisting of Fidelity level (FL) and Informant consensus factor (ICF) were calculated as indicatives of local importance of species and prevalent uses of species. The respondents reported 15 category uses: to treat 12 health disorders, for prophylaxis/immune stimulation, other health connected conditions and plants included in the diet as food/spices. The highest number of plants was used for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases (65.9%), cardiovascular problems (53.4%) and urinary system problems (46.6%). It should be noted that many herbal medicines are related to disease prevention (52.3%). Maximum FL value (100%) of Hypericum perforatum for digestive and nervous system disorders and Thymus sp. for respiratory system diseases was calculated. Numerous species and specific applications were listed in the paper, contributing to the base ethnobotanical data. Specific use categories indicate most spread health disorders and proved treatments in the studied regions. Results also reflect the growing interest in disease prevention (immune stimulation) and a healthy diet.

An exopolysaccharide (EPS) was isolated from Lactobacillus plantarum Ts and purified by size exclusion chromatography train. L. plantarum showed the highest production (9.4 ± 0.8 g/l) of EPS. Furthermore, L. plantarum was cultured in medium with volume of 5 L and the EPS was extracted by ethanol precipitation. By HPLS analysis demonstrated, that the EPS has two fractions - polymer and olygomer. The molecular mass of the EPS from both fractions is respectively 8.3x104 Da for the greater pic and 5.0x102 Da. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed the presence of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups and glycosidic linkages. TLC analysis indicated that the EPS was a heteropolymer composed of fructose, and sucrose as monomeric constituent units. The strain L. plantarum and pathogenic E. coli 3398, St. aureus 745, B. subtilis 6633, S. typhimurium 3591, L. monocytogenes 863 and E. aerogenes 3691 were tested for their growth utilizing the EPS from L. plantarum as the sole carbon source for its possible use as a prebiotic. L. plantarum exhibited growth in the EPS supplied medium compared with sucrose as carbon source, whereas the pathogenic strains did not grow in the EPS-supplied medium. In vitro evaluations showed that, like other reported polysaccharides, this EPS displayed significant prebiotics properties.

The most commonly used method to control wheat powdery mildew is by fungicides. The aim of the present study is to determine the duration of the fungicide activity of three fungicides: azoxystrobin; triadimenol; tebuconazole+spiroxamine+triadimenol. They were applied in three concentrations in phenophase 3-4 leaf of susceptible wheat variety. After treatment, each day one pot of the tested fungicide concentrations was inoculated with Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici. When using azoxystrobin at concentrations of 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.8%, symptoms of powdery mildew appeared on plants inoculated with Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici in the next day after treatment. When using triadimenol, first symptoms appeared in plants inoculated with the pathogen on the next day after applying a concentration 0.12%, on the second day after applying a concentration 0.25% and on the third day after treatment with a concentration 0.5%. With tebuconazole+spiroxamine+triadimenol, first postules appeared on plants inoculated with Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici on the third day after treatment with a concentration 0.15%, on the 13th day after treatment with a concentration 0.3% and on the 14th day after treatment with a concentration 0.6%. This fungicide at a concentration of 0.6% (13 days) and 0.3% (12 days) has the longest duration of fungicide activity.