We report a case of human Dirofilaria repens infection in a woman in Slovenia who had concomitant pleural and subcutaneous manifestations of the infection. This case report illustrates the clinical ...course of a severe symptomatic parasitic infection that had multisystemic manifestations.
The forest floor is covered with tree canopy, and the forest canopy gap is a larger or smaller area of the floor that is not covered by the canopy of the dominant tree layer. The size of the gap ...affects tree species rejuvenation, as well as the vertical and horizontal structure of the forest. In the Pohorje area (Pahernik’s forest estate), which is characterized by forests where trees of different diameters and ages occur in small areas, we analyzed the possibilities of automatic gap detection based on data from the Laser Scanning of Slovenia (LSS) and the Cyclic Aerial Survey of Slovenia (CAS). We used Canopy Height Models (CHM) derived from both data sources. The overall detection accuracy even for the smallest gaps (smaller than 50 m2) was 94.4% based on the LSS data and 83.1% based on the CAS data. A larger number and area of gaps can be detected based on the LSS data, and the gaps derived from the LSS data are more disaggregated and elongated. The detection of gaps with CAS data and LSS data is more comparable with a minimum gap area of 100 m²; the accuracy of detecting such gaps is 85.4 and 94.4 % respectively. The results of the study show that in the absence of LSS data, the use of CAS data to detect forest canopy gaps on a large scale is useful when gaps with an area of more than 100 m² are detected.
INTEGRATION OF MIGRANTS IN SLOVENIA Klopcic, Vera
Innovative issues and approaches in social sciences,
5/2020, Letnik:
13, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Odprti dostop
The paper discusses main characteristics of the contemporary situation concerning the integration of migrants in Slovenia, mainly after the emergence of the refugee crisis in 2015. The Global ...migration pact and relevant European legislation tackles it as a great humanitarian crisis. Majority of members of European Union, and Slovenia as well, have been faced with the dilemma of how much defense and security measures in their own country can be strengthened, and how to cope with the wave of migrants, while respecting accepted human rights standards. In Slovenia, in 2019 the comprehensive Government Strategy for migration was adopted and special Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants was established in 2018, to answer these challenges as comprehensively as possible. Policy measures towards regulation of status and integration of migrants in Slovenia are focused on implementation of rights of migrants who are already legally residing in Slovenia, aimed to provide necessary knowledge of Slovenian language and culture, needed for their integration.
We report a case of Babesia crassa-like infection in an asplenic patient in Slovenia in 2014. We diagnosed the infection using microscopy, 18S rRNA sequencing, and serology and monitored parasitemia ...using digital PCR. With its increasing occurrence, babesiosis should be included in differential diagnoses for immunocompromised patients displaying fever.
The effects of increasing agricultural land use on fluvial morphology have received much attention in fluvial research. However, in several regions in Europe, a reversing trend of decreasing ...agricultural activity and land abandonment, followed by reforestation, is observed. The response of fluvial morphology deserves attention because of its large impacts on landscape and riverine habitats. With the help of geomorphological mapping, multi-date aerial photography and a range of dating techniques, we reconstructed the evolution of the morphology of the riverbed and the floodplain of the Dragonja river in southwestern Slovenia. The results of this study show that the fluvial morphology in this Mediterranean catchment has changed considerably as a result of shifts in agricultural land use, in particular large-scale land abandonment in the second half of the 20th century. Until the first half of the 19th century, floodplain aggradation prevailed. Probably around 1870, a large erosion event occurred from which the floodplain did not fully recover. A terrace standing 2.5 m above the present floodplain was formed. Natural reforestation, due to depopulation since World War II, caused a reduction in discharge and sediment supply to the river. The decreased intensity and frequency of floods allowed invasion of the riverbed by vegetation, causing narrowing and incision of the riverbed. This resulted in the formation of a terrace, which now stands 1.5 m above the present-day river. This terrace is about 60 years old. However, the largest increase in forest area occurred since 1975, which intensified this process of riverbed narrowing and incision, creating a local terrace at 0.5 m at 0.5 m above the presently meandering river.
Population ageing requires society to adjust by ensuring additional types of services and assistance for elderly people. These may be provided by either organized services and sources of informal ...social support. The latter are especially important since a lack of social support is associated with a lower level of psychological and physical well-being. During the Covid-19 pandemic, social support for the elderly has proven to be even more crucial, also due to physical distancing. Therefore, this study aims to identify and describe the various types of personal social support networks available to the elderly population during the pandemic. To this end, a survey of Slovenians older than 64 years was conducted from April 25 to May 4, 2020 on a probability web-panel-based sample (n = 605). The ego networks were clustered by a hierarchical clustering approach for symbolic data. Clustering was performed for different types of social support (socializing, instrumental support, emotional support) and different characteristics of the social support networks (i.e., type of relationship, number of contacts, geographical distance). The results show that most of the elderly population in Slovenia has a satisfactory social support network, while the share of those without any (accessible) source of social support is significant. The results are particularly valuable for sustainable care policy planning, crisis intervention planning as well as any future waves of the coronavirus.
Microplastics in the environment are either a product of the fractionation of larger plastic items or a consequence of the release of microbeads, which are ingredients of cosmetics, through ...wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents. The aim of this study was to estimate the amount of microbeads that may be released by the latter pathways to surface waters using Ljubljana, Slovenia as a case study. For this purpose, microbeads contained in cosmetics were in a first step characterized for their physical properties and particle size distribution. Subsequently, daily emission of microbeads from consumers to the sewerage system, their fate in biological WWTPs and finally their release into surface waters were estimated for Ljubljana. Most of the particles found in cosmetic products were <100 μm. After application, microbeads are released into sewerage system at an average rate of 15.2 mg per person per day. Experiments using a lab-scale sequencing batch biological WWTP confirmed that on average 52% of microbeads are captured in activated sludge. Particle size analyses of the influent and effluent confirmed that smaller particles (up to 60–70 μm) are captured within activated sludge while bigger particles were detected in the effluent. Applying these data to the situation in Ljubljana indicates that about 112,500,000 particles may daily be released into the receiving river, resulting in a microbeads concentration of 21 particles/m3. Since polyethylene particles cannot be degraded and thus likely accumulate, the data raise concerns about potential effects in aquatic ecosystems in future.
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•Polyethylene microbeads are present in cosmetic products.•15.2 mg per person per day of microbeads are released into sewage system.•Smaller particles (up to 70 μm) are captured within activated sludge during biological treatment.•Microbeads concentrations in river can reach 21 particles/m3.
Severe global climate change led to the deterioration of environmental conditions in the oceans during the Toarcian Stage of the Jurassic. Carbonate platforms of the Western Tethys Ocean exposed in ...Alpine Tethyan mountain ranges today offer insight into this period of environmental upheaval. In addition to informing understanding of climate change in deep time, the effect of ancient carbon cycle perturbations on carbonate platforms has important implications for anthropogenic climate change; the patterns of early Toarcian environmental deterioration are similar to those occurring in modern oceans. This study focuses on the record of the early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (ca 183.1 Ma) in outcrops of the north‐west Adriatic Carbonate Platform in Slovenia. Amidst environmental deterioration, the north‐west Adriatic Platform abruptly transitioned from a healthy, shallow‐water environment with diverse metazoan ecosystems to a partially drowned setting with low diversity biota and diminished sedimentation. An organic carbon‐isotope excursion of −2.2‰ reflects the massive injection of CO2 into the ocean‐atmosphere system and marks the stratigraphic position of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event. A prominent dissolution horizon and suppressed carbonate deposition on the platform are interpreted to reflect transient shoaling of the carbonate compensation depth to unprecedentedly shallow levels as the dramatic influx of CO2 overwhelmed the ocean’s buffering capacity, causing ocean acidification. Trace metal geochemistry and palaeoecology highlight water column deoxygenation, including the development of photic‐zone anoxia, preceding and during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event. Ocean acidification and reduced oxygen levels likely had a profoundly negative effect on carbonate‐producing biota and growth of the Adriatic Platform. These effects are consistent with the approximate doubling of the concentration of CO2 in the ocean‐atmosphere system from pre‐event levels, which has previously been linked to a volcanic triggering mechanism. Mercury enrichments discovered in this study support a temporal and genetic link between volcanism, the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event and the carbonate crisis.
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