So, imagine me in a stuffy little room, a bit like a kitchenette. The kitchen is chockful of old ugly furniture, with the smell of fried eggs, onions, and that invariably rancid cooking oil still ...lingering in the air, to boot, as if I were somewhere, God knows where, back there, in nowhere land, some forsaken hellhole, in Serbia, let's say in Belgrade, let's say on upper Cvijićeva Street, by the overpass, or by the underpass - as you please, as you like it - actually pretty near Roosevelt Street, that would be the second Roosevelt, Franklin D, and not that first Roosevelt, Theodore; basically, near ex-Cemetery Street, right at number 115, and on the fourth floor, no lift, of course. When you finally reach that illustrious fourth, and last, floor, your soul shoots right through your nose, and floats upwards, completely upwards, straight into the cosmos, settling among the stars and the idle angels. And while the chubby little honey-cheeked angels are playing cards, betting on beans and worn-out buttons, your soul disintegrates into a billion invisible particles, but the absorbed winged youths do not care about any of it.
This article presents the impact of the ecological investment in ironworks (dust filter installation) and construction works at a highly contaminated brownfield site on the chemical composition of ...household dust (HD) and street sediment (SS) in Celje, Slovenia. The evaluation is based on two sampling campaigns: the first was undertaken 1 month before the ecological investment became operational and the second 3 years later. The results show that dust filter installations reduced the content of Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Mo, W and Zn on average by 58% in HD and by 51% in SS. No reduction was observed at sampling points in the upwind direction from the ironworks. By contrast, the impact of the construction works on the highly contaminated brownfield site was detected by a significant increase (on average by 37%) of elements connected to the brownfield contamination in SS. Such increase was not detected in HD.
Determination of the origin of heavy metals in the household dust and street sediment in a previously heavily contaminated area was carried out. The main question addressed was the origin of heavy ...metals in dry and wet air deposits measured in the environmental monitoring programme of the community of Celje. There are two possible sources: present atmospheric emissions by industries in Celje and dusting of previously heavily contaminated soil. Determination of the present emissions was done on the basis of a method based on enrichment factor calculations. Samples of soil, street sediment and household dust in the contaminated area and in a non-contaminated sampling point were analysed. Expected heavy metal concentrations in household dust and street sediment in the previously heavily polluted area according to the level of measured soil contamination were calculated. Expected and measured values were compared to detect possible present atmospheric emissions. The data show higher enrichment with elements related to ironworking activities (Fe, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni) in household dust and street sediment, according to the concentrations in the soil in the vicinity of ironworks in comparison to the reference point. Similar observations can be made at the sampling point, east of a factory producing TiO
2
-based white pigment for Ti, because emissions from it are expected. In contrast, the same trend is not observed for elements related to pollution problems in Celje (Cd, Zn, Pb). This indicated that street sediment and household dust might be a good tracer of present atmospheric emissions, despite the fact that the environment was previously highly contaminated. The method yields good results, which fit very well with expectations.
This paper presents the results of the analysis of organic chemicals in different urban dusts. The aim of the researchis preliminary evaluation of the presence of organic contaminants in household ...dust, attic dust and streetsediment. Celje area has been chosen as a pilot study site due to availability of sampling materials from previoussampling campaigns. Samples have been tested to the presence of 120 organic compounds. Attic dust contains 98different organic compounds or 82 % of all measured. Terpenoids, alkylbenzenes and different Polycyclic AromaticHydrocarbons (PAH’s), as well as plasticizers, halogenated compounds (among them also PCB’s) and pesticides(DDT and degradation products) can be found there. It also contains all of the in this study analysed US-EPA prioritypollutants. Street dust contained 70 different organic chemicals (58 %), among them 14 priority pollutants. Tracesof aliphatic organic compounds, PAH’s, aldehydes and ketones, esters, and plasticizers are found there. House dustcontains lowest number of organic compounds. Among 45 detected (38 % of total measured), 8 are priority pollutants.Aliphatic compounds, alkylbenzenes, aldehides, ketones, acids and PAH’s can be found there. Current numberof analysed samples, as well as only qualitative evaluations were made does not allow making any solid interpretationof obtained results in regarding to the potential sources of chemicals or potential environmental hazards. Thisstudy can thus be used only as a guideline for future studies of organic chemicals in urban dusts.
The research shows that in the Celje area (Slovenia), the historical anthropogenical emissions are 1,712 tons of Zn and 9.1 tons of Cd. For Zn, this value represents approximately 0.3% of the total ...Zn production in that area. Close to the former zinc smelting plant, the “Zn precipitation” has been estimated to be up to 0.036 mm. The 100-year Zn production left behind a heavily contaminated area with maximum concentrations of Zn of up to 5.6% in attic dust and 0.85% in the soil, and 456 mg/kg of Cd in attic dust and 59.1 mg/kg in the soil. The calculation of historical emissions is based on the data of heavy metals concentration in the attic dust at 98 sampling points and on the data from 19 measurement sites of the weight of total monthly air deposit. The main idea behind determining past emissions is that when the weight of the deposited dust on a small area is multiplied by the concentration of the element in that area, the mass of the polluter which has been transported to the place of interest by air can be calculated. If we sum up all the weight over the whole geochemical anomaly, we get the quantity of historical emissions.
Two approaches, factor analysis (FA) and self-organising maps (SOM), have been used for the determination of geochemical associations in the two case studies evaluated here. In both case studies, ...different associations of elements, derived from different anthropogenic sources (smelters, ironworks, and chemical industry), are presented, together with natural associations of elements, all representing different geological environments. FA and SOM give similar results, despite some differences. Most similarities were achieved with the group of elements affected by strong pollution caused by smelting activities. The biggest difference between the two is that SOM can combine different groups into one, especially in the case of associations of elements connected with mild pollution (ironworking, chemical industry). The biggest advantage of SOM as opposed to FA is that SOM allow us to process variables, which are not normally distributed, or even of attributive nature. The use of such variables in SOM classification to prove the origins of associations of elements is also demonstrated here.
Matej Sternen (1870–1949) is better known as an impressionist painter rather than for his restoration work, even though in his impressive career he discovered and restored a considerable number of ...works, especially frescos in Slovenia and Dalmatia (Croatia). His strong interest in restoration can be seen in the numerous notes he wrote about painting technologies, restoration and conservation techniques. This enriched his entire opus, as it stimulated him to try numerous painting techniques and genres, such as frescoes. Sternen was a painter who constructed his paintings very carefully, and a master in the preparation of the painting’s surface, or “the ground,” and always considered the laws of colours and their relationships and proportions to the white painted surface.In his restoration practice, working together with his close colleagues the art historians France Stele (1886–1972) and Ljubo Karaman (1886–1971), Matej Sternen actualized the principle “conserve instead of restore” that was the rule in his day. This paper is based on fieldwork data and archive sources, kept in Ljubljana, Celje, Split and Zagreb, and focuses on two important monuments — the painted ceiling in the Old Manor House in Celje (Slovenia), and a wall painting in the church of St Michael in Ston (Croatia). These two cases, which are different from both technical and methodological approaches to monument protection, clearly show Sternen’s professional expertise and practical realization of “conserve instead of restore,” which speaks in favour of preserving the original work as opposed to aggressive restoration interventions.
The topic of this paper is contemporary tendencies and business trends in Slovenia, a country which left behind the period of crisis and by transforming its outdated and obsolete industry has ...overcome the period of transition. The paper deals with economy, industrial and economic solutions in Slovenia thanks to which this country has recovered from post-socialistic crisis and thus ranked among European and world's competitive countries. The examples of Maribor and Celje illustrate the fact that though medium sized centers, they can achieve good results by clever investment and planning. Serbia, which is still in the period of crisis, could be governed by the example of Slovenia on its path of development. This paper provides just some of the examples that Serbia could resort to. The issues which Serbia has been facing for a certain period of time could be overcome by adequate investment, building up of the infrastructure, economy transformation and industry modernization.
Abstract Background: Vaccination against hepatitis B has been obligatory for Slovenian health care workers since 1989, because the risk for hepatitis B infection is greater among health care workers ...compared to other professional groups or general population. We wanted to obtain data about vaccination of health care workers and their management treatment regarding hepatitis B in the Celje region. Methods: We carried out a retrospective cross-sectional survey at the Department of Epidemiology of the Institute of Public Health Celje during 2010 and 2011. The aim of the survey was to estimate vaccination coverage of health care workers, employed in the Celje region. At that time there were 4,763 registered employees in the Celje Database of Health Care Workers, who received a structured questionnaire. Cooperation in the study was voluntary, as health care workers themselves fullled and sent the questionnaire back to the Institute of Public Health Celje. We analysed the data with Epi Info, version 3.5.1 452 Zdrav Vestn | julijavgust 2013 | Letnik 82 and we proved statistical signicance with the chi-square test. For in-depth analysis, we used multivariate logistic regression method. Statistical signicance was determined at p < 0,05. Results: Response rate reached 45 %; we received 2,123 completed questionnaires. 79 % of the cooperating health care workers reported having been vaccinated against hepatitis B with three or four doses of vaccine, 21 % reported not having been vaccinated or beeing vaccinated with less than three doses. Vaccination coverage was the highest among those who were employed in home care for adults (87 %) and in private dental clinics (86.5 %), doctors of dental medicine (90 %) and among graduated medical workers and nurses (88 %). Injuries with sharp objects, which could have been the cause of infection with hepatitis B, were mentioned by 40 % of respondents. Conclusions: All exposed health care workers in the Celje region are not vaccinated against hepatitis B, although it is required by the risk assessment of their workplace. For this reason, we should strive towards achieving higher vaccination coverage among health care workers. It would be necessary to implement periodical examinations of antibody titre among health care workers with the highest exposure who have not been protected aer primary vaccination.
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