HEALTH PROTECTION AT WORK FOR THE WINEGROWERS IN FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESSES ON THE ISLAND OF HVAR

Vinogradarstvo ima stoljetnu tradiciju na otoku Hvaru i jedna je od važnih grana poljoprivredne proizvodnje. Danas vinogradarstvo egzistira prvenstveno na obiteljskim poljoprivrednim gospodarstvima. Cilj rada bio je utvrditi postojeće stanje zaštite zdravlja i sigurnosti na radu vinogradara na obiteljskim poljoprivrednim gospodarstvima, s posebnim težištem na uporabu pesticida, zaštitu na radu prilikom njihove uporabe, zdravstvene tegobe povezane s uporabom pesticida te ozljede na radu za vrijeme obavljanja vinogradarskih poslova. Istraživanje je provedeno anonimnim upitnikom u razdoblju od mjeseca lipnja do studenog 2012. godine, a obuhvatilo je 57 vinogradara. Rezultati su pokazali da su sumporni i bakreni pripravci najčešće upotrebljavani pesticidi u vinogradima otoka Hvara. Vinogradari ne upotrebljavaju sva dostupna sredstva zaštite pri radu s pesticidima. Značajna razlika u pristupu uporabe osobnih zaštitnih sredstava ovisi o pojedinim fazama rada koji obavljaju prilikom upotrebe pesticida. Od zdravstvenih tegoba koje su se javile nakon uporabe pesticida najčešće su iritacije očiju ili kože koji se pojavljuju u gotovo svih ispitanika i povezuju se s uporabom sumpornih pripravaka u obliku praha. Simptomi blažeg oblika trovanja pesticidima javili su se u malog broja ispitanika nakon uporabe bakrenih i sumpornih pripravaka istovremeno i očitovali su se kao simptomi probavnog trakta. Ozljede na radu zabilježene su kod čak polovice ispitanika. Uglavnom se radilo o lakšim ozljedama prilikom rada u vinogradu, pri čemu je petina ozljeda okvalificirana kao teške tjelesne ozljede nastale prilikom padova, spoticanjem ili nesretnim slučajem dok mehanizacija nema velikog utjecaja na nastanak tih ozljeda. Može se zaključiti da je edukacija i bolja informiranost vinogradara o štetnim učincima pesticida na zdravlje nužna kao i obvezna uporaba osobnih zaštitnih sredstava prilikom rada. Potrebno je na nacionalnoj razini izgraditi učinkovit sustav zaštite zdravlja na radu radnika koji rade na obiteljskim poljoprivrednim gospodarstvima.Viticulture on the island of Hvar is a tradition and has been one of the most important branches of agriculture for hundreds of years. Today, it exists mostly as family-owned businesses. The aim of this paper was to determine the status of the winegrowers’ safety and health at work in family-owned businesses, especially with regard to the use of pesticides, safety at work while using them, health problems connected with the use of pesticides, and injuries at work sustained in the vineyard. The research, lasting from June to November 2012, was carried out at 57 vineyards using an anonymous questionnaire. The results showed that the most widely used pesticides in the vineyards on the island of Hvar are sulphur and copper preparations. It was found that, while working, the winegrowers do not use all the protective equipment available. There was a significant difference in the use of protective equipment depending on the phase of the work with pesticides. Among the health problems connected with the use of pesticides, the most frequent were the irritation of the eyes and skin, which appeared in almost all examinees and were connected with the use of powdery sulphur preparations. The symptoms of mild pesticide poisoning appeared in a small number of examinees after using sulphur and copper preparations together and were manifested as symptoms of the digestive system. A variety of injuries were observed in as many as half of the examined persons. They were mostly classified as mild injuries, while 20% were classified as serious injuries that occurred as a result of falling, stumbling, or an accident. The mechanical equipment used in vineyards had no significant impact on the injuries sustained at work. The results of the research show that the winegrowers need additional education and training in the harmful effects of pesticides on human health, as well as developing a more responsible attitude to the obligatory use of protective equipment. Thus, it is necessary to develop and implement an efficient system of safety and health at work for the workers in family owned businesses on Hvar and nationwide

Neuroendocrine Tumors of Larynx – Two Case Reports and Literature Review

Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) of the larynx are rare and heterogenous group, with much confusion about nature and classification of these neoplasms in the past. Diagnosis is based primarily on light microscopy and confirmed by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. A classification in 4 different types; paraganglioma, typical carcinoid, atypical carcinoid and small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCNC) is a current consensus. Thorough diagnostic and a proper classification of neuroendocrine neoplasms are of paramount importance – prognosis and treatment differ significantly. We present two cases: 63-year old patient with SCNC of the larynx and a 53-year old patient with atypical carcinoid of the larynx. OctreoScan is useful tools for diagnostics and follow up of the patients and it is predictive for effectiveness of octreotide therapy

Type 5 and 6 nasal septal deformities: could we predict and prevent acute coronary syndrome attacks in the future?

Undisturbed nasal breathing is essential for normal breathing physiology as a whole. Nasal septal deformities (NSD) are well known as a factor which can remarkably and substantially affect the quality of nasal and pulmonary breathing. However, it is well known that type 5 and type 6 nasal septal deformities may cause only a moderate, unilateral nasal obstruction or none at all. The effects of nasal obstruction on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems have been well studied so far: right ventricle problems, ischemic heart diseases, sleep disorders, mucociliary clearance system disturbances, paranasal sinus pathology, have all been described as a result of impaired nasal breathing. The connection between the upper and lower respiratory systems has been recognized in allergic rhinitis and asthma as well, resulting in the united airways concept. Most recently, the ostensible connection between chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and acute myocardial infarction has been said to be proven. However, the results of this study might have not been well founded since there are no direct and clear proofs that CRS as a chronic inflammatory process has anything to do with the acute coronary syndrome (ACS). On the other hand, a large international study on the incidence of NSD in CRS patients, based on the Mladina classification, showed that NSD were present in a high incidence and that the most frequent deformities were types 5 (36.18%) and 7 (29.92%). The vast majority of those types 7 consisted of types 3 and (again) types 5 or types 6 (76.32%). The fact that in CRS patients a remarkably high incidence of type 5 septal deformity can be seen, gives rise to thinking that this factor perhaps plays a role in the onset of ACS. Acute coronary syndrome is one of the leading causes of death all over the world. Traditional risk factors such as family history, overweight body, smoking, stress, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery calcium score, C-reactive protein, lipoprotein, homocysteine, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2, as well as high-density lipoprotein functionality perhaps cannot account for the entire risk for incident coronary events. Several other potential risk factors have been identified in an effort to improve risk assessment for ACS. This article reviews one of them: the possible influence of an unusual, so far unknown predisposing factor: type 5 or type 6 nasal septal deformities. They have been found as pure, isolated types or as a part of combined nasal septal deformity (type 7)

A Survey on the Electric Vehicle Routing Problem: Variants and Solution Approaches

In order to ensure high-quality and on-time delivery in logistic distribution processes, it is necessary to efficiently manage the delivery fleet. Nowadays, due to the new policies and regulations related to greenhouse gas emission in the transport sector, logistic companies are paying higher penalties for each emission gram of CO2/km. With electric vehicle market penetration, many companies are evaluating the integration of electric vehicles in their fleet, as they do not have local greenhouse gas emissions, produce minimal noise, and are independent of the fluctuating oil price. The well-researched vehicle routing problem (VRP) is extended to the electric vehicle routing problem (E-VRP), which takes into account specific characteristics of electric vehicles. In this paper, a literature review on recent developments regarding the E-VRP is presented. The challenges that emerged with the integration of electric vehicles in the delivery processes are described, together with electric vehicle characteristics and recent energy consumption models. Several variants of the E-VRP and related problems are observed. To cope with the new routing challenges in E-VRP, efficient VRP heuristics and metaheuristics had to be adapted. An overview of the state-of-the-art procedures for solving the E-VRP and related problems is presented

Goods Delivery with Electric Vehicles: Electric Vehicle Routing Optimization with Time Windows and Partial or Full Recharge

With the rise of the electric vehicle market share, many logistic companies have started to use electric vehicles for goods delivery. Compared to the vehicles with an internal combustion engine, electric vehicles are considered as a cleaner mode of transport that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As electric vehicles have a shorter driving range and have to visit charging stations to replenish their energy, the efficient routing plan is harder to achieve. In this paper, the Electric Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (EVRPTW), which deals with the routing of electric vehicles for the purpose of goods delivery, is observed. Two recharge policies are considered: full recharge and partial recharge. To solve the problem, an Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) metaheuristic based on the ruin-recreate strategy is coupled with a new initial solution heuristic, local search, route removal, and exact procedure for optimal charging station placement. The procedure for the O(1) evaluation in EVRPTW with partial and full recharge strategies is presented. The ALNS was able to find 38 new best solutions on benchmark EVRPTW instances. The results also indicate the benefits and drawbacks of using a partial recharge strategy compared to the full recharge strategy

Neuroendocrine tumors of larynx - two case reports and literature review [Neuroendokrini tumori larinksa - prikaz slučaja i pregled literature]

Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) of the larynx are rare and heterogenous group, with much confusion about nature and classification of these neoplasms in the past. Diagnosis is based primarily on light microscopy and confirmed by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. A classification in 4 different types; paraganglioma, typical carcinoid, atypical carcinoid and small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCNC) is a current consensus. Thorough diagnostic and a proper classification of neuroendocrine neoplasms are of paramount importance--prognosis and treatment differ significantly. We present two cases: 63-year old patient with SCNC of the larynx and a 53-year old patient with atypical carcinoid of the larynx. OctreoScan is useful tools for diagnostics and follow up of the patients and it is predictive for effectiveness of octreotide therapy

Dataset for multimodal transport analytics of smartphone users - Collecty

Urban mobility is facing many challenges, such as energy consumption, pollution, and safety. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the mobility of users through the transportation network using data containing information regarding the used transport mode. This data article describes a dataset from mobile devices collected by users as they move through the transportation network. Each sample in this dataset is labelled with a corresponding transport mode. Eight transport modes are present in the dataset: Car, Bus, Walking, Bicycle, Train, Tram, Running and Electric Scooter. The basic breakdown of the raw data according to users, transport modes and multimodal routes is presented. During data collection, data from the accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyroscope sensors mounted within the mobile device were stored. The data were collected using a mobile application from mobile devices with an embedded Android operating system. The structure of the text files in which the data were stored and the structure of the application used to collect the data are presented in the paper. The collected data provides a highly relevant basis for mobility analysis and planning, analysis of road conditions, clustering of user behaviour, and comparison of transport mode classification methods

Transition State Matrices Approach for Trajectory Segmentation Based on Transport Mode Change Criteria

Identifying distribution of users’ mobility is an essential part of transport planning and traffic demand estimation. With the increase in the usage of mobile devices, they have become a valuable source of traffic mobility data. Raw data contain only specific traffic information, such as position. To extract additional information such as transport mode, collected data need to be further processed. Trajectory needs to be divided into several meaningful consecutive segments according to some criteria to determine transport mode change point. Existing algorithms for trajectory segmentation based on the transport mode change most often use predefined knowledge-based rules to create trajectory segments, i.e., rules based on defined maximum pedestrian speed or the detection of pedestrian segment between two consecutive transport modes. This paper aims to develop a method that segments trajectory based on the transport mode change in real time without preassumed rules. Instead of rules, transition patterns are detected during the transition from one transport mode to another. Transition State Matrices (TSM) were used to automatically detect the transport mode change point in the trajectory. The developed method is based on the sensor data collected from mobile devices. After testing and validating the method, an overall accuracy of 98% and 96%, respectively, was achieved. As higher accuracy of trajectory segmentation means better and more homogeneous data, applying this method during the data collection adds additional value to the data

Traffic State Estimation and Classification on Citywide Scale Using Speed Transition Matrices

The rising need for mobility, especially in large urban centers, consequently results in congestion, which leads to increased travel times and pollution. Advanced traffic management systems are being developed to take the advantage of increased mobility positive effects and minimize the negative ones. The first step dealing with congestion in urban areas is the detection of congested areas and the estimation of the congestion level. This paper presents a a method for a traffic state estimation on a citywide scale using the novel traffic data representation, named Speed Transition Matrix (STM). The proposed method uses traffic data to extract the STMs and to estimate the traffic state based on the Center Of Mass (COM) computation for every STM. The COM-based approach enables the simplification of the clustering process and provides increased interpretability of the resulting clusters. Using the proposed method, traffic data is analyzed, and the traffic state is estimated for the most relevant road segments in the City of Zagreb, which is the capital and the largest city in Croatia. The traffic state classification results are validated using the cross-validation method and the domain knowledge data with the resulting accuracy of 97% and 91%, respectively. The results indicate the possible application of the proposed method for the traffic state estimation on macro- and micro-locations in the city area. In the end, the application of STMs for traffic state estimation, traffic management, and anomaly detection is discussed

A thin line between Meniere’s disease and spontaneous intracranial hypotension syndrome

Aim To point out the similarity of Meniere disease and spontaneous intracranial hypotension and difference of their treatment. Methods A case of a 54-year-old male patient with previously diagnosed Meniere’s disease and newly diagnosed spontaneous intracranial hypotension syndrome is presented. Additional neuroradiological examination, Brain contrast-enhanced MRI and MR myelography were used for diagnosis. Results Due to deterioration of vertigo, hearing loss and tinnitus in the right ear the patient was referred to the additional neuroradiological examination which confirmed the diagnosis of spontaneous intracranial hypotension syndrome. Brain contrast-enhanced MRI showed increased pachymeningeal contrast enhancement, and MR myelography identified the location of CSF leak. The patient was successfully treated conservatively. Conclusion According to our knowledge this is the fifth case report of Meniere’s disease and spontaneous intracranial hypotension coexistence. Both diseases have similar clinical presentation and initial treatment. We suggest procedures of additional examination when the treatment fails and initial diagnosis becomes questionable