Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

About: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is a government organization based out in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Coupling constant. The organization has 17989 authors who have published 36276 publications receiving 642820 citations. The organization is also known as: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences，簡稱：BAS & Balgarska Akademiya na Naukite.

Radio Imaging of the Very-High-Energy gamma-Ray Emission Region in the Central Engine of a Radio Galaxy

Abstract: The accretion of matter onto a massive black hole is believed to feed the relativistic plasma jets found in many active galactic nuclei (AGN). Although some AGN accelerate particles to energies exceeding 10(12) electron volts and are bright sources of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission, it is not yet known where the VHE emission originates. Here we report on radio and VHE observations of the radio galaxy Messier 87, revealing a period of extremely strong VHE gamma-ray flares accompanied by a strong increase of the radio flux from its nucleus. These results imply that charged particles are accelerated to very high energies in the immediate vicinity of the black hole.

Trends in utilization of the pharmacological potential of chalcones.

Abstract: Chalcones (1,3-diaryl-2-propen-1-ones) are open chain flavonoids that are widely biosynthesized in plants. They are important for the pigmentation of flowers and, hence, act as attractants to the pollinators. As flavonoids, chalcones also play an important role in defense against pathogens and insects. A longstanding scientific research has shown that chalcones also display other interesting biological properties such as antioxidant, cytotoxic, anticancer, antimicrobial, antiprotozoal, antiulcer, antihistaminic and anti-inflammatory activities. Some lead compounds with various pharmacological properties have been developed based on the chalcone skeleton. Clinical trials have shown that these compounds reached reasonable plasma concentrations and did not cause toxicity. For these reasons, chalcones became an object of continued interest in both academia and industry. Nowadays, several chalcones are used for treatment of viral disorders, cardiovascular diseases, parasitic infections, pain, gastritis, and stomach cancer, as well as like food additives and cosmetic formulation ingredients. However, much of the pharmacological potential of chalcones is still not utilized. The purpose of this review is to describe the recent efforts of scientists in pharmacological screening of natural and synthetic chalcones, studying the mechanisms of chalcone action and relevant structure-activity relationships. Put together, these activities aimed at synthesis of pharmacologically active chalcones and their analogs.

Chemical composition of European propolis: expected and unexpected results.

Abstract: Ten propolis samples from Bulgaria, Italy and Switzerland were analyzed by GC-MS. As expected, most samples displayed the typical chemical pattern of "poplar" propolis: they contained pinocembrin, pinobanksin and its 3-O-acetate, chrysin, galangin, prenyl esters of caffeic and ferulic acids. Two samples differed significantly: one from the Graubunden Alpine region, Switzerland, rich in phenolic glycerides, and one from Sicily which contained only a limited number of phenolics and was rich in diterpenic acids.

Autophagy and Alzheimer's Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Implications.

Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of progressive dementia in the elderly. It is characterized by a progressive and irreversible loss of cognitive abilities and formation of senile plaques, composed mainly of amyloid β (Aβ), and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), composed of tau protein, in the hippocampus and cortex of afflicted humans. In brains of AD patients the metabolism of Aβ is dysregulated, which leads to the accumulation and aggregation of Aβ. Metabolism of Aβ and tau proteins is crucially influenced by autophagy. Autophagy is a lysosome-dependent, homeostatic process, in which organelles and proteins are degraded and recycled into energy. Thus, dysfunction of autophagy is suggested to lead to the accretion of noxious proteins in the AD brain. In the present review, we describe the process of autophagy and its importance in AD. Additionally, we discuss mechanisms and genes linking autophagy and AD, i.e., the mTOR pathway, neuroinflammation, endocannabinoid system, ATG7, BCL2, BECN1, CDK5, CLU, CTSD, FOXO1, GFAP, ITPR1, MAPT, PSEN1, SNCA, UBQLN1, and UCHL1. We also present pharmacological agents acting via modulation of autophagy that may show promise in AD therapy. This review updates our knowledge on autophagy mechanisms proposing novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of AD.

Extraction and validation of a new set of CMS pythia8 tunes from underlying-event measurements

Abstract: New sets of CMS underlying-event parameters (“tunes”) are presented for the pythia8 event generator. These tunes use the NNPDF3.1 parton distribution functions (PDFs) at leading (LO), next-to-leading (NLO), or next-to-next-to-leading (NNLO) orders in perturbative quantum chromodynamics, and the strong coupling evolution at LO or NLO. Measurements of charged-particle multiplicity and transverse momentum densities at various hadron collision energies are fit simultaneously to determine the parameters of the tunes. Comparisons of the predictions of the new tunes are provided for observables sensitive to the event shapes at LEP, global underlying event, soft multiparton interactions, and double-parton scattering contributions. In addition, comparisons are made for observables measured in various specific processes, such as multijet, Drell–Yan, and top quark-antiquark pair production including jet substructure observables. The simulation of the underlying event provided by the new tunes is interfaced to a higher-order matrix-element calculation. For the first time, predictions from pythia8 obtained with tunes based on NLO or NNLO PDFs are shown to reliably describe minimum-bias and underlying-event data with a similar level of agreement to predictions from tunes using LO PDF sets.