This article focuses on social distance and explores possible differences between factors that influence social distance in a variety of prison environments. Results from multiple regression analyses ...show that the perception of procedural justice and legitimacy of prison staff, the presence of violent subculture, and age are the best predictors of social distance. These findings highlight the unstable nature of social distance. Moreover, the presence of social distance varies over time and across different prison settings. The implications of these findings are discussed.
One of the paramount challenges in natural resource management revolves around the delicate equilibrium between the demand for and the supply of diverse Ecosystem Services (ESs) within a cultural ...landscape. Recognizing the centrality of cultural landscapes to human well-being, the sustainability of these landscapes hinges upon the health and stability of ecosystems that can effectively provide the required ESs. Over the long term, the sustainable supply of ESs is constrained by the potential supply of ESs. Understanding the potential supply of ESs is crucial for averting compromises to the ecosystems within a landscape. This article introduces a novel perspective on evaluating the ESs of a landscape by means of efficiency analysis. Instead of presenting the potential supply of ESs in absolute terms, we offer a comparative analysis of ESs' relative supply to associated management costs. In principle, the efficiency of Landscape Units (LUs) is defined as the ratio of the potential supply of multiple ESs to the costs associated with land use and land cover management. The resultant efficiency maps serve as hot and cold spot maps, revealing efficient ecosystem compositions that yield multiple ESs. This composition reflects management efforts, incorporating various management costs. Forests emerge as pivotal ecosystems in landscapes, delivering the most ESs at the lowest costs. These efficiency maps offer valuable insights for regional planners, enabling them to enhance the supply of ES in inefficient LUs by studying the ecosystem structure and associated costs of the most efficient LUs.
Background
The prevalence of iron deficiency (ID) in outpatients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and its relation to exercise capacity and quality of life (QoL) is ...unknown.
Methods
190 symptomatic outpatients with HFpEF (LVEF 58 ± 7%; age 71 ± 9 years; NYHA 2.4 ± 0.5; BMI 31 ± 6 kg/m
2
) were enrolled as part of SICA-HF in Germany, England and Slovenia. ID was defined as ferritin < 100 or 100–299 µg/L with transferrin saturation (TSAT) < 20%. Anemia was defined as Hb < 13 g/dL in men, < 12 g/dL in women. Low ferritin-ID was defined as ferritin < 100 µg/L. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to
E/e
′ at echocardiography:
E/e
′ ≤ 8;
E/e
′ 9–14;
E/e
′ ≥ 15. All patients underwent echocardiography, cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPX), 6-min walk test (6-MWT), and QoL assessment using the EQ5D questionnaire.
Results
Overall, 111 patients (58.4%) showed ID with 89 having low ferritin-ID (46.84%). 78 (41.1%) patients had isolated ID without anemia and 54 patients showed anemia (28.4%). ID was more prevalent in patients with more severe diastolic dysfunction:
E/e
′ ≤ 8: 44.8% vs.
E/e
′: 9–14: 53.2% vs.
E/e
′ ≥ 15: 86.5% (
p
= 0.0004). Patients with ID performed worse during the 6MWT (420 ± 137 vs. 344 ± 124 m;
p
= 0.008) and had worse exercise time in CPX (645 ± 168 vs. 538 ± 178 s,
p
= 0.03). Patients with low ferritin-ID had lower QoL compared to those without ID (
p
= 0.03).
Conclusion
ID is a frequent co-morbidity in HFpEF and is associated with reduced exercise capacity and QoL. Its prevalence increases with increasing severity of diastolic dysfunction.
This paper is an updated checklist of the hoverflies of Slovenia. Since the last checklist of 274 species published by de Groot & Govedič in 2008, a large number of additional specimens have been ...collected and studied. In the present study, 42 species are reported for the first time for the Slovenian hoverfly fauna. Sphegina sublatifrons Vujić, 1990 is deleted from the Slovenian list. In total, 362 species from 77 genera are reported. According to the IUCN European Red List of Hoverflies, 29 species are classified as Endangered, 9 as Vulnerable, 19 as Near Threatened, 302 as Least Concern and 3 as Data Deficient. The distribution of species per region in Slovenia is presented. With 243 species, Upper Carniola hosts the largest number of registered species, followed by Central Slovenia (233 spp.), Gorizia (230 spp.), Savinja and Littoral Inner-Carniola (both with 173 spp.), Coastal-Karst (133 spp.), Southeast Slovenia (71 spp.), Drava (60 spp.), Carinthia (56 spp.), Lower Sava (52 spp.), Mura (47 spp.) and Central Sava (8 spp.). A significant increase in the number of new records has been noted in recent decades, and the possible reasons for this trend are also discussed here.
► High contents of Zn, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Co were determined in the Meža River sediments. ► Metal-bearing phases were identified in sediments and assigned to three source areas. ► Main sources of metals ...in the Meža River sediments are mine waste deposits, iron-steel industry, bedrock weathering. ► Contribution of the Meža River to the total metal-load in the Drava River is evident.
The Meža River Valley has been a center of mining, ore processing and iron- and steel-based metallurgical industry for more than 300 a. This paper deals with stream sediments draining this area. Loads of potentially toxic metals and metal-bearing phases were investigated 10 a after the cessation of Pb and Zn mining. Sediments in the upper Meža River Valley show significant pollution with Pb and Zn as a consequence of mining and ore processing. The highest contents of Pb and Zn were found in the Meža tributaries, which directly drain mine waste deposits (maximum values: 19,300
mg/kg Pb and 37,900
mg/kg Zn). These results reflect transport of contaminated material from mine waste sites and indicate that the inactive mine and its mine wastes are sources of metal contamination in the surrounding environment. Contents of Cr, Ni, Cu and Co are increased in the lower Meža River Valley, in the area of Ravne, as a result of the iron and steel industry. The contribution of the Meža River to the metal-load in the Drava River is evident.
Metal-bearing phases, identified in stream sediments by SEM/EDS, are assigned to three areas, according to their source and genesis. The Mežica mining district source area is characterized by ore minerals of geogenic/technogenic origin (cerussite, sphalerite, smithsonite and galena), the Ravne source area is characterized by technogenic trace metal-bearing Fe-alloys, Fe-oxides and spherical trace metal-oxides and the Meža and Drava River catchment areas are represented by geogenic metal-bearing accessory and common rock-forming minerals, such as zircon, ilmenite, rutile, sphene, barite and monazite. SEM/EDS analyses of stream sediments agree well with the results of chemical analyses and they prove to be a very useful tool for identification of metal-bearing phases and their characterization according to source and genesis.
Aims
Heart failure (HF) hospitalization rates are decreasing in western Europe, but little is known about trends in central and east European countries. We analysed the Slovenian national ...hospitalization database to determine the burden of HF hospitalization.
Methods and results
The Slovenian National Hospital Discharge Registry was searched for HF hospitalizations between 2004 and 2012 in patients aged ≥20 years. A total of 55 531 main HF hospitalizations (43 636 first HF hospitalizations) in 34 406 patients (median age 78 years, 55% female) were recorded. The most common co‐morbidities were arterial hypertension (54.3%), atrial fibrillation (40.6%), diabetes mellitus (24.5%), and ischaemic heart disease (21.9%). The number of age‐standardized main and first HF hospitalizations per 100 000 population decreased from 249 to 232 (7.1%, P = 0.002) and from 467 to 435 (6.8%, P = 0.074), respectively. Crude main and first HF hospitalization rates increased from 249 to 298 (19.8%, P < 0.001) and from 530 to 558 (5.4%, P = 0.100), respectively. After a first HF hospitalization, any HF readmission rates within 30, 60, and 90 days and at 1 year were 11.7, 17.2, 20.9, and 37.5%, respectively. Hospitalization trends were similar in both sexes and across all age groups. In a multivariate log binomial regression model, myocardial infarction, chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, male sex, and year of admission were independently associated with higher HF readmission rates (P < 0.01 for all).
Conclusions
In Slovenia, standardized HF hospitalization rates have decreased but the crude HF hospitalization burden has increased. Readmissions were associated with established cardiovascular risk factors.
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