The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the national classifications of good ecolog... more The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the national classifications of good ecological status to be harmonised through an intercalibration exercise. In this exercise, significant differences in status classification among Member States are harmonized by comparing and, if necessary, adjusting the good status boundaries of the national assessment methods. Intercalibration is performed for rivers, lakes, coastal and transitional waters, focusing on selected types of water bodies (intercalibration types), anthropogenic pressures and Biological Quality Elements. Intercalibration exercises are carried out in Geographical Intercalibration Groups - larger geographical units including Member States with similar water body types - and followed the procedure described in the WFD Common Implementation Strategy Guidance document on the intercalibration process (European Commission, 2011). The Technical report on the Water Framework Directive intercalibration describes in detail how the intercalibration exercise has been carried out for the water categories and biological quality elements. The Technical report is organized in volumes according to the water category (rivers, lakes, coastal and transitional waters), Biological Quality Element and Geographical Intercalibration group. This volume addresses the intercalibration of the Coastal Waters-Black Sea Benthic Invertebrates Fauna ecological assessment methods.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource
Coastal waters Black Sea geographic intercalibration group: Macroalgae and angiosperms ecological assessment methods
The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the national classifications of good ecolog... more The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the national classifications of good ecological status to be harmonised through an intercalibration exercise. In this exercise, significant differences in status classification among Member States are harmonized by comparing and, if necessary, adjusting the good status boundaries of the national assessment methods. Intercalibration is performed for rivers, lakes, coastal and transitional waters, focusing on selected types of water bodies (intercalibration types), anthropogenic pressures and Biological Quality Elements. Intercalibration exercises are carried out in Geographical Intercalibration Groups - larger geographical units including Member States with similar water body types - and followed the procedure described in the WFD Common Implementation Strategy Guidance document on the intercalibration process (European Commission, 2011). The Technical report on the Water Framework Directive intercalibration describes in detail how the intercalibration exercise has been carried out for the water categories and biological quality elements. The Technical report is organized in volumes according to the water category (rivers, lakes, coastal and transitional waters), Biological Quality Element and Geographical Intercalibration group. This volume addresses the intercalibration of the Coastal Waters Black Sea Macroalgae and Angiosperms ecological assessment methods.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource
Artificial nesting platforms support population recovery of the Dalmatian pelican Pelecanus crispus along the Danube River in Bulgaria
Conservation Evidence Journal
The Dalmatian pelican Pelecanus crispus is a Near Threatened species of waterbird with population... more The Dalmatian pelican Pelecanus crispus is a Near Threatened species of waterbird with populations in the wetlands of the Lower Danube River. Breeding populations declined due to habitat loss and wetland drainage and conservation efforts have focused on bringing breeding Dalmatian pelicans back to their former wetland sites in Bulgaria. Since 2008, conservation efforts have focused on building artificial nesting platforms at marshes along the Lower Danube River. These efforts resulted in considerable growth of the population in the country. Between 2011 and 2021, four wooden platforms were installed at the Belene Island wetland complex (Pechina and Martvo Marshes) and the Kalimok wetland complex. All four platforms were used successfully by pelicans, resulting in the formation of two new breeding colonies and a total of 91 pairs in 2021. The majority, 88 pairs, were recorded at the Belene Island marshes, with the remainder at the Kalimok colony. The average annual breeding success w...
Monitoring of Wintering Geese Along the Western Black Sea Coast (2018-2020)
SCENT overview presented at the 21st Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics (PCI 2017) Larisa, Gr... more SCENT overview presented at the 21st Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics (PCI 2017) Larisa, Greece, 28-30 September 2017
Macrophytobentic communities answer to marine environment changes by modifying their qualitative ... more Macrophytobentic communities answer to marine environment changes by modifying their qualitative and quantitative structure and can be used as indicators of changes in the marine environment. The paper presents the results for the Romanian Black Sea coast after the application of EI index (Ecological Index), developed to answer the Water Framework Directive requirements and used in the intercalibration exercise between Romania and Bulgaria. The results are expressed in relation to the average value of the species fresh biomass. The EI is reported to the EQR index (Ecological Quality Ratio), common for all biological elements according to WFD. The EI was applied to the 2011-2014 data set, providing an overview of the ecological status of the coastal zone according to the biological element macroalgae and angiosperms. The index has met the requirements of the Water Framework Directive and will be used in the future under the Marine Strategy Directive, which requires to maintain or ach...
The current status of the breeding distribution of the White-tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla (... more The current status of the breeding distribution of the White-tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla (l.) in Bulgaria in the period 2006-2012 is presented. The breeding distribution of the White-tailed Eagle in Bulgaria can be divided in three geographical regions with a total number of 23 pairs. The stronghold is Danube River with 11 breeding pairs. Thracian Plain and Black Sea Coast hold 9 and 3 pairs, respectively. The mean distance between two neighbouring pairs along the Danube River (n = 5) is 69 km (± 51 km), while in South Bulgaria (n = 9) is 87 km (± 53 km). The nests along the Danube (n = 5) are located at 90-522 m (mean = 210 ± 178 m) away from the water and in South Bulgaria (n = 9) between 1-8925 m (mean = 3632 ± 3453 m). The species breeds at altitude between 27-368 m (n = 15) (mean = 160 ± 130 m) a.s.l. The number of the wintering individuals is highly fluctuating in a range of 17 to 34 individuals. The preferred breeding habitats are riparian forests along the big rivers ...
SUMMARYEconomic development and energy exploration are increasing in the Arctic. Important breedi... more SUMMARYEconomic development and energy exploration are increasing in the Arctic. Important breeding habitats for many waterbird species, which have previously been relatively undisturbed, are now being subjected to these anthropogenic pressures. The conservation of the habitats and the species they support is a significant challenge for sustainable development. Even if governments and corporates operating in this fragile environment are committed to sustainable development, there is little information available to avoid, mitigate and manage environmental risk and impacts. Taking a risk management perspective, we followed the International Finance Corporations’ (IFC) Performance Standard 6 (PS6) criteria on Environmental and Social Sustainability and developed an approach to identify “critical habitat”, as defined in IFC PS6, for waterbird species breeding in the Arctic. While the range of these waterbirds is roughly known, more accuracy is needed for proper risk assessment.We have t...
Cryotherapy is currently used in various clinical, rehabilitative, and sporting settings. However... more Cryotherapy is currently used in various clinical, rehabilitative, and sporting settings. However, very little is known regarding the impact of cooling on the microcirculatory response. Objectives: The present study sought to examine the influence of two commonly employed modalities of cryotherapy, whole body cryotherapy (WBC;-110°C) and cold water immersion (CWI; 8±1°C), on skin microcirculation in the mid-thigh region. Methods: The skin area examined was a 3 × 3 cm located between the most anterior aspect of the inguinal fold and the patella. Following 10 minutes of rest, 5 healthy, active males were exposed to either WBC for 3 minutes or CWI for 5 minutes in a randomised order. Volunteers lay supine for five minutes after treatment, in order to monitor the variation of red blood cell (RBC) concentration in the region of interest for a duration of 40 minutes. Microcirculation response was assessed using a non-invasive, portable instrument known as a Tissue Viability imaging system. After a minimum of seven days, the protocol was repeated. Subjective assessment of the volunteer's thermal comfort and thermal sensation was also recorded. Results: RBC was altered following exposure to both WBC and CWI but appeared to stabilise approximately 35 minutes after treatments. Both WBC and CWI affected thermal sensation (p < 0.05); however no betweengroup differences in thermal comfort or sensation were recorded (p > 0.05). Conclusions: As both WBC and CWI altered RBC, further study is necessary to examine the mechanism for this alteration during whole body cooling.
In January 2014, the first ever comprehensive winter census of the Whitetailed Eagle Haliaeetus a... more In January 2014, the first ever comprehensive winter census of the Whitetailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla along the Danube River was conducted, using mostly point and transect counts. Altogether, 550-700 eagles were counted. The upper range of the estimate may in fact be more realistic because 615 km of the Danube were not surveyed. Birds were observed in every country along the Danube. Hotspots of occurrences were (1) the Central Danube floodplains - the area encompassing the lower Hungarian section (Danube- Drava National Park), Kopački rit Nature Park (Croatia), and the Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve (Serbia); and (2) the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. According to the Action Plan for the conservation of the White-tailed Eagle along the Danube, future winter counts should be made regularly, and lower variation in the resulting eagle numbers achieved by a higher degree of synchronization between individual countries. This study reinforces the importance of protected are...
<title>Optical coherence tomography: imaging architect for dermal microdialysis in psoriasis</title>
Dynamics and Fluctuations in Biomedical Photonics VIII, 2011
ABSTRACT Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been used as part of a ground breaking translatio... more ABSTRACT Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been used as part of a ground breaking translational study to shed some light on one of the worlds most prevalent autoimmune diseases; psoriasis. The work successfully integrates the fields of optical imaging, biochemistry and dermatology in conducting a dermal microdialysis (DMD) trial for quantitative histamine assessment amongst a group of psoriasis sufferers. The DMD process involves temporary insertion of microscopic hollow tubes into a layer of skin to measure the levels of histamine and other important biological molecules in psoriasis. For comparison purposes, DMD catheters were implanted into healthy, peri-lesional and lesional skin regions. The catheters&#39; entry and exit points and their precise locations in the epidermal layer of the skin were confirmed using OCT thus obtaining high resolution, wide-field images of the affected skin as well as catheter placement whilst local microdialysis enabled a tissue chemistry profile to be obtained from these three skin regions including histamine, a local immune system activator known to contribute towards itch and inflammation. Together these tools offer a synergistic approach in the clinical assessment of the disease. In addition, OCT delivered a non-invasive and rapid method for analyzing the affected skin architecture.
The 'multiple subject constructions' (=MSCs) in Korean and Japanese display peculiar language spe... more The 'multiple subject constructions' (=MSCs) in Korean and Japanese display peculiar language specific phenomena which can not be easily explained, either syntactically or semantically. These phenomena are syntacticaJIy interesting in that all NPs in MSCs have a unique syntactic case, namely nominative case. From the semantic point of view, it is also interesting to note that there are various semantic and pragmatic relationships between the NPs in MSCs. Until now we have seen no plausible explanation as to why there are MSCs in Korean and Japanese and why they are necessary. I propose in this paper that MSCs are derived due to the incompleteness of the meaning of the subject. If the subject is semantically incomplete, it requires another NP for semantic saturation. This process continues until no NP can be added upon past a certain point; at this stage the MSC has become semantically complete. I assume further that the nominative case of the NPs in MSCs is due to the case assignment of the AGR of INFL category in the underlying structure. This conflicts with the assumption of quite a few GB-grammarians, who treat the MSCs as a result of scrambling phenomena of NPs, i.e. via cyclic NP movement from the attribute position of the subject NP into the IP-adjunction position. Detailed descriptions of syntactic derivation and semantic interpretation of MSCs are given in this paper. * I am indebted to R. Dietrich, W. Klein, and A. von Stechow for their helpful suggestions on my first version of this paper. I would like also to thank M. Bierwisch, B. Comrie and J. Weissenborn for their comments given during the conference at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. Theo Vennemann suggested a discourse analysis on MSCs in Korean for wlrich I am exceedingly grateful but which is unfortunately beyond the scope of this paper. I will treat this problem in a future work.
Background/Purpose: Vascular abnormalities play an acute role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. I... more Background/Purpose: Vascular abnormalities play an acute role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. In order to characterize vascular involvement in psoriasis and its regular clinical assessment in vivo, non-invasive high speed imaging with high resolution and high sensitivity is needed. Methods: The correlation mapping optical coherence tomography (cmOCT) technique was used for in vivo microcirculation imaging of human forearm under normal and psoriatic conditions. The cmOCT technique developed by our group uses dense scanning OCT image acquisition and post-processing software based on correlation statistics. The frequency domain OCT system was used for imaging which acquires a 3D volume of 1024 9 1024 A-scans, each of 512 pixels deep in approximately 70 s. The cmOCT technique processes the resulting OCT volume within 116 s using a 7 9 7 kernel. Results: 3D structural and functional (microcirculation) maps of the healthy tissue and the psoriatic plaque were obtained using the cmOCT technique. The presented results indicate that cmOCT allows not only the identification of the microvessels, but also produces more detailed microvascular networks showing how the blood vessels relate to each other in healthy tissue and within the plaque. The microcirculation pattern within the plaque is totally different from the healthy tissue. The distinct changes are also observed in vessel density, tortuosity, and orientation. Conclusion: The cmOCT provides high sensitivity and imaging speed for in vivo microcirculation imaging within the human skin under normal and diseased conditions.
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Papers by Emil Todorov