NASILJE U INTIMNIM PARTNERSKIM ODNOSIMA TIJEKOM EPIDEMIJE COVID-19 U SLOVENIJI

Measures taken to restrain the spread of the coronavirus have significantly impacted people’s well-being and behaviour, increasing thereby the likelihood of family violence, especially of violence against women. This paper tests the hypothesis that family violence has increased during the epidemic in Slovenia by analysing police datasets on reported cases of family violence in Slovenia during the pandemic. The results, which were confirmed by a series of t-tests, indicate that compared to a 10-year average, in 2020 there was an average number of reports of family violence, in contrast to a 20% lower number of reports in 2021. Similarly, the number of misdemeanours of family violence was almost average in 2020, and lower in 2021. Likewise, the number of restraining orders imposed in 2020 and 2021 was close to the above-mentioned 10-year average. Within a period of eleven weeks during both the first and the second lockdown period, there were higher instances of detected criminal offences and misdemeanours, whereas the number of restraining orders imposed and breached decreased.Mjere poduzete za suzbijanje širenja koronavirusa uvelike su utjecale na dobrobit i ponašanje ljudi, što je dovelo do vjerojatnosti porasta nasilja u obitelji, posebice nasilja nad ženama. U našem članku predstavljamo analizu policijskih podataka o prijavljenim slučajevima obiteljskog nasilja, koju smo proveli s ciljem uočavanja potencijalnih promjena u učestalosti obiteljskog nasilja koje se događalo u tom razdoblju. U usporedbi s desetogodišnjim prosjekom, prijave o ‘nasilju u obitelji’ kao kaznenom djelu bile su prosječne 2020., ali su bile oko 20 % manje u 2021. Broj prekršaja nasilja u obitelji bio je gotovo prosječan u 2020., dok je 2021. bio manji. Broj izrečenih mjera zabrane približavanja u 2020. i 2021. bio je blizu desetogodišnjeg prosjeka. U razdoblju od 11 tjedana prvog i drugog razdoblja ograničene slobode kretanja broj većine uočenih kaznenih djela i prekršaja bio je veći. Zabrane približavanja su u tim razdobljima izricane i kršene u manjem broju. Ovi su rezultati potvrđeni nizom t-testa. U razdoblju izolacije povećan je broj prijava nasilja u obitelji (kao kaznenog djela i prekršaja), dok je smanjen broj policijskih zabrana prilaska

Procedures for Removal of Pesticides from the Environment

Organoklorni i organofosforni pesticidi se u velikim količinama upotrebljavaju u proizvodnji hrane zbog svoje učinkovitosti i niske cijene i smatra se da danas na svjetskom tržištu postoji oko 1500 aktivnih tvari s pesticidnim učinkom. Ovi postojani organski onečišćivači dugo nakon primjene mogu zaostajati u tlu, mulju i sedimentima ili ući u vodene tokove, te dospjeti izravno u prehrambeni lanac. Danas se za uklanjanja pesticida s onečišćenih lokacija primjenjuju sljedeći postupci: niskotemperaturna toplinska desorpcija, spaljivanje, bioremedijacija i fitoremedijacija. Svaka od tehnologija ima svoje prednosti i nedostatke. U konačnici idealan proces remedijacije bio bi takav da u potpunosti razgradi onečišćivač bez stvaranja međuprodukata. Neki od procesa imaju samo sposobnost razmještanja i stabilizacije onečišćivača, no ne postižu potpuno uklanjanje. Niskotemperaturna toplinska desorpcija je tehnologija čišćenja ex situ najčešće primjenjivana za uklanjanje pesticida. Prednost primjene spaljivanja je potpuno uklanjanje onečišćivača, međutim proces je skup jer zahtijeva transport medija do spalionice. Procesi bioremedijacije potaknuti su prirodnim procesom mikrobiološke razgradnje onečišćivača odnosno interakcijom mikroorganizama i komponenata otpada. Postupak ex situ uključuje upotrebu bioreaktora. Jedan od postupaka je i postupak land spreading kod kojeg se onečišćeni medij miješa s tlom pri čemu autohtoni mikroorganizmi razaraju onečišćivače. Učinkovitost u biorazgradnji toksičnih onečišćivača utvrđena je za gljive bijelog truljenja, posebno iz roda Phanerochaete. Fitoremedijacija je tzv. "zelena tehnologija" primjenom biljaka, pri čemu biljke nisu izravno uključene u proces i služe kao katalizator za pojačavanje rasta i aktivnosti populacije mikroorganizama korijenja. U fitoremedijaciji pesticida najčešće se primjenjuju biljke roda Kochia, za koje je utvrđeno da zbog interakcija biljke i mikroorganizama iz područja rizosfere dolazi do razgradnje prisutnih pesticida. Bioremedijacija i fitoremedijacija su danas dvije nove metode koje se još procjenjuju. Brojnim laboratorijskim istraživanjima i pilot-studijama nastoji se povećati raspoloživost primjene bioremedijacije i fitoremedijacije te nadvladati ograničenja ovih metoda.Pesticides are widely used in food production, and it is believed that more than 1000 types of pesticides are in use. Organochlorines and organophosphorous pesticides are used in large quantities due to their efficacy and low cost. These persistent organic pollutants remain in the soil, silt, and sediment long after application, and enter into watercourses, finding their way directly into the food chain. Today, the following procedures are used to remove pesticides from polluted localities: low temperature thermal desorption, incineration, bioremediation and phytoremediation. Each of these technologies has its advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, the ideal remediation process would be to completely destroy the pollutant without the production of byproducts. Some of these processes are only capable of moving and stabilizing the contaminant, but do not clean or fully eliminate the pollutant. Low temperature thermal desorption is an ex situ cleaning technology most often used to remove pesticides. The advantage of incineration is the complete elimination of the pollutant; however, this process is very expensive, as it requires transport of the media to the incinerator. The processes of bioremediation are stimulated by natural processes of microbiological degradation of contaminants through the interaction of microorganisms and nutrients from waste. Ex situ procedures include the use of bioreactors. Another procedure is land spreading, in which the contaminated medium is mixed with the soil, in which the native microorganisms degrade the pollutants. Efficacy in the biodegradation of toxic pollutants has been established for white root fungi, particularly those from the genus Phanerochaete. Phytoremediation is a green technology that uses plants, in which plants are not directly included in the process but serve as a catalyser for increasing the growth and activity of root microorganisms. In phytoremediation of pesticides, plants of the genus Kochia are often used, as it has been established that the interaction between the plants and microorganisms in the rhizosphere leads to the degradation of pesticides. Bioremediation and phytoremediation are two new methods that are still under assessment. Numerous laboratory studies and pilot studies are attempting to increase the applicable uses of bioremediation and phytoremediation, and overcome the limitations currently presented by these methods

Treatment of Tobacco Dust Leachate by Activated Sludge – Evaluation of Biokinetic Parameters

Treatment of tobacco dust leachate represents an important problem because of high concentrations of organic compounds. Experiments were carried out in a batch conditions at initial concentrations of activated sludge of 3.1 g dm–3 (Exp.1) and 6.0 g dm–3 (Exp.2) and different initial concentrations of organic matter in leachate, expressed as COD concentrations, which were in range from 500 to 5000 mg dm–3. Efficiency of biodegradation process was approximately 89.4 % of COD removal. The kinetic parameters, maximum specific growth rate (μmax), substrate saturation constant (Ks) and overall yield coefficient (Y), during experiments were found to be 0.088 h–1, 4241 mg dm–3, and 0.400 mg mg–1 for Exp. 1; and 0.052 h–1, 3168 mg dm–3, and 0.257 mg mg–1 for Exp. 2, respectively. Monod model gives very good fits to experimental data, accompanied by a high regression coefficient (R2)

Composting of Tobacco Dust in Different Types of Reactors

A pilot-scale reactor composting of tobacco dust was conducted to determine the feasibility of composting, nicotine removal and effect of intermittent stirring on the composting performance. Two experiments were carried out in a 240 dm3 packed bed reactor at airflow rate of 0.65 dm3min–1kgV Sinitial –1; without stirring (PBRNS); with periodical stirring (PBRS). The third experiment was conducted in a 200 dm3 horizontal reactor with stirrers (HRS) at air flow-rate of 0.38 dm3min–1 kgV Sinitial–1. Substrate was automatically agitated every 24 hours for 1 minute at 6.3 rpm. Nicotine was not detected in composting products and nicotine degrading bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens/putida was isolated during the process. At the end of the processes in PBRNS, PBRS and HRS conversions of the volatile matter were 50.6 % (at day 38), 53.0 % (at day 28) and 51.1 % (at day 29), respectively, suggesting that stirring increases the degradation rate of the selected substrate

Kinetics of Organic Matter Biodegradation in Leachate from Tobacco Waste

Sve stroži zakonski propisi, kojima se štiti okoliš, zahtijevaju obradu nastalog otpada i procjednih voda prije odlaganja, odnosno ispuštanja u okoliš. U radu je istražena biorazgradnja organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi dobivenoj iz duhanskog otpada. Pokusi su provedeni u šaržnom reaktoru s početnom koncentracijom aktivnog mulja 3,03 g dm-3 te različitim početnim koncentracijama organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi, izraženoj kao vrijednost kemijske potrošnje kisika (KPK), u rasponu od 0,5 do 3,0 g dm-3. Monodova jednadžba je odabrana za matematički opis kinetike biorazgradnje procjedne vode. Dobivene vrijednosti biokinetičkih parametara iznosile su Y = 0,25 g g-1, kd = 0,005 d-1, µmax = 0,39 d-1 i Ks = 5,45 g dm-3. Aktivni mulj pokazuje sposobnost razgradnje organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi. Učinkovitost procesa biorazgradnje iznosila je u prosjeku 80,3 %.Treatment of wastes and leachate evolved in landfills is today an imperative due to rigorous environmental protection legislation. In this work, biodegradation of the organic fraction in tobaccowaste leachate was studied. Experiments were carried out in a batch reactor at initial concentration of activated sludge of 3.03 g dm–3 and different initial concentrations of organic matter in leachate, expressed as COD, which ranged from 0.5 to 3.0 g dm–3. The working volume of the reactor (Fig. 1) was 7 dm3 within the cylindrical porous liner and it was filled with the suspension of leachate and activated sludge . The liner was designed such that it did not allow activated sludge to pass through. Continuous up-flow aeration was provided by a membrane pump. The temperature during the biodegradation process was 23 ± 2 °C. Dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature in reactor were monitored continuously by probes connected to a remote meter. Toxicity of leachate was performed by toxicity test using marine bacteria Vibrio fischeri before starting with the biodegradation in the batch reactor. The obtained results showed that effective concentration of leachate is EC50 = 1.6 g dm–3 and toxicity impact index is TII50=9.99, meaning that untreated leachate must not be discharged into the environment before treatment. The results of the biodegradation process of leachate in batch reactor are presented in Table 1 and Fig. 2. The ratio Xv/X was almost constant throughout the experiments and ranged from 0.69 do 0.73. This implies that the concentration of biomass remained unchanged during the experiments, and average yield was 5.26 %. The important kinetic and stoichiometric parameters required for performance of the biological removal process, namely the Y, Ks, kd, and µmax were calculated from the batch experiments (Table 2). The experimental results of the influence of initial substrate concentrations on substrate degradation rate, and influence of initial substrate concentrations on biomass growth rate in comparison with Monod model are presented in Figs. 3 and 4. These results suggest that selected model describes well the biodegradation process of leachate in batch reactor. Microscopic examination of activated sludge showed that flocs were healthy and compact, with simultaneous formation of young flocs (Table 3, Figs. 5a and 5b). Figure 6 presents the decrease in organic matter in the leachate and increase in activated sludge concentration within two days of biodegradation during which activated sludge showed strong ability to degrade organic matter, while process efficiency (Fig. 7) was approximately 80.3 %

Kinetics of Organic Matter Biodegradation in Leachate from Tobacco Waste

Sve stroži zakonski propisi, kojima se štiti okoliš, zahtijevaju obradu nastalog otpada i procjednih voda prije odlaganja, odnosno ispuštanja u okoliš. U radu je istražena biorazgradnja organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi dobivenoj iz duhanskog otpada. Pokusi su provedeni u šaržnom reaktoru s početnom koncentracijom aktivnog mulja 3,03 g dm-3 te različitim početnim koncentracijama organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi, izraženoj kao vrijednost kemijske potrošnje kisika (KPK), u rasponu od 0,5 do 3,0 g dm-3. Monodova jednadžba je odabrana za matematički opis kinetike biorazgradnje procjedne vode. Dobivene vrijednosti biokinetičkih parametara iznosile su Y = 0,25 g g-1, kd = 0,005 d-1, µmax = 0,39 d-1 i Ks = 5,45 g dm-3. Aktivni mulj pokazuje sposobnost razgradnje organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi. Učinkovitost procesa biorazgradnje iznosila je u prosjeku 80,3 %.Treatment of wastes and leachate evolved in landfills is today an imperative due to rigorous environmental protection legislation. In this work, biodegradation of the organic fraction in tobaccowaste leachate was studied. Experiments were carried out in a batch reactor at initial concentration of activated sludge of 3.03 g dm–3 and different initial concentrations of organic matter in leachate, expressed as COD, which ranged from 0.5 to 3.0 g dm–3. The working volume of the reactor (Fig. 1) was 7 dm3 within the cylindrical porous liner and it was filled with the suspension of leachate and activated sludge . The liner was designed such that it did not allow activated sludge to pass through. Continuous up-flow aeration was provided by a membrane pump. The temperature during the biodegradation process was 23 ± 2 °C. Dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature in reactor were monitored continuously by probes connected to a remote meter. Toxicity of leachate was performed by toxicity test using marine bacteria Vibrio fischeri before starting with the biodegradation in the batch reactor. The obtained results showed that effective concentration of leachate is EC50 = 1.6 g dm–3 and toxicity impact index is TII50=9.99, meaning that untreated leachate must not be discharged into the environment before treatment. The results of the biodegradation process of leachate in batch reactor are presented in Table 1 and Fig. 2. The ratio Xv/X was almost constant throughout the experiments and ranged from 0.69 do 0.73. This implies that the concentration of biomass remained unchanged during the experiments, and average yield was 5.26 %. The important kinetic and stoichiometric parameters required for performance of the biological removal process, namely the Y, Ks, kd, and µmax were calculated from the batch experiments (Table 2). The experimental results of the influence of initial substrate concentrations on substrate degradation rate, and influence of initial substrate concentrations on biomass growth rate in comparison with Monod model are presented in Figs. 3 and 4. These results suggest that selected model describes well the biodegradation process of leachate in batch reactor. Microscopic examination of activated sludge showed that flocs were healthy and compact, with simultaneous formation of young flocs (Table 3, Figs. 5a and 5b). Figure 6 presents the decrease in organic matter in the leachate and increase in activated sludge concentration within two days of biodegradation during which activated sludge showed strong ability to degrade organic matter, while process efficiency (Fig. 7) was approximately 80.3 %

Biodegradation Kinetics of Tobacco-waste Leachate by Activated Sludge in a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR)

Treatment of wastes and leachate evolved in landfills is today an imperative due to rigorous environmental protection legislation. In this work, biodegradation of the organic fraction in tobacco waste leachate was studied. Experiments were carried out in a sequencing batch reactor at initial concentrations of activated sludge of 3.03 and 5.95 g L–1 and different initial concentrations of organic matter in leachate, expressed as COD concentrations, ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 g L–1. The results of the experiments showed that activated sludge possessed a strong ability to degrade organic matter in leachate. Efficiency of the biodegradation process was approximately 82.6 %. A simple Monod equation was selected to describe the kinetics of leachate biodegradation. The kinetic parameters Y, kd, max and Ks during experiments E1 and E2 were found to be 0.25 g g–1, 0.005 d–1, 0.39 d–1 and 5.45 g L–1, and 0.23 g g–1, 0.003 d–1, 0.44 d–1 and 5.63 g L–1, respectively

Biomonitoring of selected trace elements in women, men and children from Slovenia

Little information is available on exposure of general population to metals at low levels. As a part of a research project PHIME within the EU 6th Framework programme and National Human Biomonitoring programme, several studies following the same protocol were conducted to find out to what extent the Slovenian population of women in childbearing age, women 50–60 years, men and children 6–11 years is exposed to environmental chemicals including Hg, Pb, Cd and As and on the other hand to estimate their supply with essential elements (Se, Zn, Cu). Hair, blood and urine were collected from all participants, breast milk from lactating mothers. Most of the subjects had the levels for non-essential toxic metals below the reference levels and the levels for essential elements Zn, Cu and Se within the reference intervals. Concentrations of metals and As did not differ between genders, while significantly higher levels of Se were observed in men and significantly higher levels of Cu in women. Comparing women of different ages, higher Hg levels and lower Cd and Pb levels were found in blood of younger women (20–35) than in older women (50–60). Se levels were higher in older women, while Cu and Zn levels were higher in younger women. In compare to children, women (both, younger and older) and men showed higher Cd, Pb, Se and Zn concentration in blood. Hg concentration was higher in women (20–35) and men than in children. Looking at the difference between different geographical areas where subjects were recruited, we found higher Cd and Pb levels in blood of rural children than in children from urban area. Hg in blood and urine was in contrary, higher in children from urban area than in children from rural area. In adults, As was observed to be the highest in urban area. Levels of essential elements differed between different areas in Slovenia as well. The present study has provided the basis to establish preliminary reference values for the selected population, depending on different parameters assessed by questionnaires. When additional subjects from other areas of Slovenia are recruited, the connection to the environmental database will be established using GIS modelling tools