Heavy metals are naturally occurring elements, but they are regarded as significant environmental pollutants due to their high density and high toxicity even at low concentrations. The aim of this paper is the evaluation of the pollution level of heavy metals in the river and riverbank sediments, as well as the estimation of their origin and spatial differences along the course of the Vrbas River through Banja Luka. The concentrations of metals have been assessed using the Inductively coupled plasma ? optical emission spectrometry and Advanced mercury analyzer for mercury determination. The anthropogenic impact on heavy metal concentration in sediments was estimated by the calculating of pollution indices: geoaccumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (Cf), pollution load index (PLI) and potential ecological risk index (Er). Obtained results indicate that there is no statistically significant spatial difference in metal concentration, indicating that heavy metals in sediments have a constant source. The anthropogenic impact expressed by the values of pollution indices showed that sites are generally uncontaminated by Co, Cr and V and moderately contaminated by Zn, Cu and Ni. On the contrary, lead, mercury and cadmium pose the highest ecological risk. The anthropogenic source of Pb, Hg and Cd is industry, municipal waste and the combustion of fossil fuels. The obtained results demonstrate the high ecological risk and the need for environ-mental monitoring, with the aim to support an efficient strategy to reduce local pollution and contamination of the investigated system.

School of Energy Systems, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland, Department of Communications, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil, Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, School of Computing, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom, School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, Department of Computer Science, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras, Brazil, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States

Abstract Oocyte/embryo in vitro culture is one of the most important assisted reproductive technologies used as a tool for maintaining genetic resources biodiversity and the inheritance of valuable genetic resources through generations. The success of such processes affects the final goal of the in vitro culture, getting viable and healthy offspring. In common in vitro oocyte maturation and/or embryo development techniques, the development of oocytes/embryos is carried out at 5% carbon dioxide and roughly 20% atmosphere-borne oxygen ratios in cell culture incubators due to their reduced cost in comparison with low atmospheric oxygen-tension incubators. These conditions are usually accompanied by the emergence of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can extremely damage cell membrane integrity and other vital cellular organelles, as well as genetic material. The present review mainly focuses on the antioxidant roles of different vitamins on in vitro oocyte maturation competence and embryo development in farm animals. The use of antioxidant agents may prevent the extreme augmentation of ROS generation and enhance in vitro matured oocyte competence and embryo development. Therefore, this review aimed to provide an updated outline of the impact of antioxidant vitamin (Vit) supplementations during in vitro maturation (IVM) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) on oocyte maturation and consequent embryo development, in various domestic animal species. Thus, the enrichment of the culture media with antioxidant agents may prevent and neutralize the extreme augmentation of ROS generation and enhance the in vitro embryo production (IVEP) outcomes.

Environmental threats increasingly entail important risks from government responses. In considering the risks of a new vector-borne disease, for example, decision-makers must also grapple with potential risks from responses such as the aerial spraying of pesticides. In communicating about these complex risks, public officials often choose different “frames” that promote different conceptualizations of the issue. Yet prior research has paid limited attention to how public officials frame the related risks of the environmental threat and the public response. This paper starts to fill that gap by conducting a content analysis of statements by public officials regarding risks from the threat of a local outbreak of the Zika virus in South Florida in 2016, as well as risks from the response of aerial pesticide spraying. Based on limited prior research, we hypothesize that public officials are likely to have adopted a “risk maximization” frame that stressed the high risks from exposure to Zika, but a “risk trade-off” frame when discussing aerial spraying. In actuality, we find that officials strongly favored a “reassurance” frame that downplayed both types of risks. Based on this analysis, we suggest framing strategies for disease outbreaks and other threats with potentially risky government responses may vary significantly depending on local contexts and that the South Florida experience was a missed opportunity to test the strategy of trade-off framing.

Europe is one of the leading tourist destinations where tourism is one of the key economic sectors. The quality of bathing waters is a very important factor when choosing a vacation destination. Croatia recognized this early and was one of the first Mediterranean countries to start systematic monitoring of bathing waters. On the other hand, monitoring of inland bathing waters is relatively new and includes a much smaller number of sites (41) compared to coastal waters (894). The aim of this paper was to summarize and analyze the water quality of inland and coastal bathing sites of Croatia, closer regions (non-EU Member States) and in the EU for the last decade. The share of excellent water quality in EU Member States increased by 10.1% and 6.6% for inland and coastal waters, respectively (2011–2020). Germany recorded the highest proportion of excellent water quality for inland waters (92.2%) and Cyprus for coastal waters (99.3%). Looking at the 10-year average of the proportion of bathing waters with excellent quality, the proportion of coastal bathing sites exceeds that of inland waters by 7.1%. It is clear that additional efforts should be made to improve the management and monitoring of inland waters.

Knowledge building is a social process that is driven by the willingness of people to share their expertise and create new knowledge. Scientific Communities of Practice (CoPs) are communities of professors and researchers whose aim is to foster scientific knowledge generation. In the KM literature, research concerning this kind of CoPs has been substantially neglected so far. The present research analyses the case study of the International Association for Knowledge Management (IAKM) seen as a scientific CoP where members are mostly academics with research interests in developing and promoting knowledge management. Based on a collection of quantitative and qualitative data about member collaborations and scientific production, the study investigates the structure of interactions and the collaborative processes of IAKM members and the specific mechanisms of knowledge building within this CoP, seen as a paradigmatic example of scientific community. Members were asked to respond to a survey regarding their collaborative activities carried out with other IAKM members in the period of 2011 – 2020. The descriptive analysis revealed the kind of collaborations, the distribution of interactions across the community, and the dynamic patterns over time. A follow-up social network analysis was used to provide deeper insight into the community structure and dynamics. The research found that a CoP can really be useful for progress in a scientific field because it can provide a platform for trust and mutual acquaintance that reduces barriers to collaboration and knowledge building across different universities, professional roles, countries, and cultures, which is increasingly important for the progress of science. Most importantly, IAKM exhibited a cohesive and active core membership with pivotal roles played by a number of active members, which contributed significantly to the growth of the Association and, in general, to the advancements in the field of KM through collaborative knowledge building.

Being able to read well is crucially important for language learners. Successful performance at elementary and high school level, as well as on higher levels of academic education, is partly dependent on the ability to read. It is believed that good learners are those who are proficient in reading. However, building such a connection between a reader and the written information is complex for both English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) students, and requires the application of various reading strategies. The present study aimed to investigate EFL Bosnian learners' awareness of the use of various reading strategies. Furthermore, the study investigated students' reading habits, favorite reading materials, and the purpose of reading. It was conducted among fifty-seven ninth grade elementary school students. The findings proved that these students are aware of the importance of reading and development of reading skills, as well as of the importance of using appropriate reading strategies in order to be proficient readers and eventually to be more successful in the overall process of learning.

Entre o montante de residuos solidos urbanos produzidos diariamente incluem-se rejeitos com caracteristicas de toxicidade, inflamabilidade, corrosividade e potencial contaminante, os quais merecem atencao especial, uma vez que sao classificados pela NBR no 10.004/2004 como residuos perigosos. Este e o caso dos residuos de medicamentos domiciliares (RMD), como frascos, comprimidos, seringas etc., que podem ser gerados em residencias e, quando descartados incorretamente, contaminam o solo e os corpos hidricos. Diante dessa problematica, a Lei cearense no 15.192, de 19 de julho de 2012, estabeleceu a implantacao da logistica reversa para RMD em farmacias, drogarias e distribuidores de medicamentos, para que o consumidor final tenha acesso a alternativas corretas de descarte. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho buscou verificar, atraves de pesquisa de campo para registro fotografico e preenchimento de formulario, o atendimento a esta Lei no Centro do Municipio de Fortaleza, bairro com maior numero de estabelecimentos farmaceuticos do municipio. Os resultados mostram que apenas 7% das farmacias recebiam os RMD e que em mais de 60% dos estabelecimentos e perceptivel o desconhecimento da normativa em questao, indicando uma possivel falha na capacitacao dos profissionais desses estabelecimentos, desconhecimento do proprietario/gestor do estabelecimento ou deficiencia na fiscalizacao desse quesito por orgaos publicos. Portanto, e necessario que o poder publico atue efetivamente com politicas publicas, fiscalizacao e outras acoes, para que fabricantes e importadores de medicamentos - base do comercio de farmacos - apoiem a logistica reversa de RMD iniciada no distribuidor final, ademais de medidas de educacao ambiental para o consumidor final.

Pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merr.), Waste Streams, Characterisation and Valorisation: An Overview

This paper is concerned with a special case of stochastic distributed optimal control, where the objective is to design a structurally constrained controller for a system subject to state and input power constraints. The structural constraints are induced by the directed communication between local controllers over a strongly connected graph. Based on the information structure present, that is, who knows what and when, we provide a control synthesis with the optimal control law consisting of two parts: one that is based on the common information between the subsystems and one that uses more localized information. The developed method is applicable to an arbitrary number of physically interconnected subsystems.