The aim of this study was to determine pollution by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heavy metals in seawaterand sediment in Kostrena coastal area, as well as their toxicity using ...bioluminescence based tests. Total PAH concentrationin seawater ranged 1.7-155.3 ng/L. The share of carcinogenetic PAH was relatively high, ranging 22–48.3%.Nickel concentrations in seawater were beyond detection limits (<0.1 mg/L), vanadium concentrations ranged 0.66–1.96mg/L, chrome concentrations were beyond detection limits, and copper concentrations were also beyond detection limits orextremely low (up to 0.32 mg/L). EC50 values in seawater ranged 23.80–90.90 ng/L. Correlation between total PAH concentrationand toxicity of seawater showed strong connection between them (r=0.9579). Total PAH concentration in marinesediment ranged 58.02–1116 mg/kg dry weight (d.w.). The share of carcinogenetic PAH was extremely high ranging10–53%. Nickel concentrations in marine sediment ranged 8–24 mg/kg d.w., vanadium concentrations ranged 24–42mg/kg d.w., chrome concentrations ranged 11–19 mg/kg d.w., and copper concentrations ranged 7–25 mg/kg d.w. EC50values in marine sediment ranged 818–4596 mg/kg d.w. Correlation between total PAH concentration and toxicity of marinesediment showed weak connection between them (r=0.2590). Previous studies of seawater samples from areas of theAdriatic sea under the direct influence of oil industry did not include concentrations of heavy metals, which makes ourstudy the first to present such comprehensive results. Our results point out the need for further evaluations and followingof marine environment pollution and its consequences on living organisms and marine ecosystem in whole.
When Croatia enters the European Union (EU) in the year 2013, Croatian agriculture will be faced with the new rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period between 2014 and 2020, which ...aim to intensify environmental standards in agriculture. To determine how informed Croatian farmers are about the new environmental standards of the CAP, and how these environmental standards will affect their future work and business decisions, a survey was conducted on a sample of 112 Croatian farmers. The research results show that respondents believe that the adjustment of Croatian agriculture to the CAP will be demanding, as a consequence of a generally bad situation in the country, poor education of farmers and a large administrative burden imposed by the EU. Although the majority of the surveyed farmers intend to continue to engage in agriculture after accession to the EU, more than half of the respondents do not use measures which are mandatory as part of cross- compliance and which will be further extended as part of the “greening” measures in the following year. Therefore it is necessary to intensify farmers’ education and increase the use of set control measures at the national and local levels.The results are important for agricultural policy makers, as well as for numerous agencies and organizations responsible for informing farmers.
Previous TBC lesions, diabetes and use of corticosteroids are recognised as risk factors for developing long-standing disease caused by Schizophyllum commune. In the case report presented in this ...work, S. commune was isolated from an inflamed bronchogenous cyst of previously immunocompetent patient. The isolated mould failed to sporulate and identification was achieved by nucleotide sequencing.
Optoelectronic technologies and devices have developed at a rapid rate, resulting in a large array of materials systems and structures that may be integrated into optoelectronic modules and ...subsystems. However, because these devices are made of a variety of materials systems, there is a fundamental mismatch between their optical modes. This mismatch affects coupling efficiency and sensitivity to tolerances. The coupling efficiency between laser diode arrays or OEIC components and single-mode fiber ribbons drops rapidly with increasing misalignment tolerance. There are trade-offs between the allowed minimum coupled power and the cost of establishing the required alignment. We are using a polymeric waveguide film that contains optical structures to transform optical mode patterns between components made from dissimilar materials systems. We demonstrate how tapered polymer waveguides may be used to match the laser mode to the fiber mode, resulting in a module with decreased alignment requirements for a given coupling efficiency Waveguides which simultaneously taper the mode both laterally and vertically have been designed. Waveguides with tapered mode profiles have been constructed using photobleaching of a guest/host dye/polymer system. Amoco 4212 polyimide doped with DCM dye was chosen as the waveguide material due to its good thermal stability and its simple processing. We present numerical results showing the variation of coupling efficiency into tapered waveguides with component misalignment. The alignment between components is established by self-aligned flip-chip solder bonding.
