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Abstract: Slovenia is affected by extreme and intense rainfall that triggers numerous landslides every year, resulting in significant human impact and damage to infrastructure. Previous studies on landslides have shown how rainfall patterns can influence landslide occurrence, while in this paper, we present one of the first study in Slovenia to examine the impact of climate change on landslides in the mid-21st century. To do this, we used the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 climate scenario and future climatology simulated by six climate models that differed from each other as much as possible while representing measured values of past climate variables as closely as possible. Based on baseline period (1981-2010) we showed the number of days with exceedance of rainfall thresholds and the area where landslides may occur more frequently in the projection period (2041-2070). We found that extreme rainfall events are likely to occur more frequent in the future, which may lead to a higher frequency of landslides in some areas.
Keywords: climate change, landslides, models, hazard, prediction
Published in DiRROS: 09.03.2022; Views: 794; Downloads: 304
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Abstract: Predšolski otroci preživijo velik del vsakdanjika v vrtcih, zato je treba umestiti obisk gozda, kot najobsežnejšega naravnega okolja v Sloveniji, v programe predšolskega varstva otrok. Na podlagi anket vzgojiteljev javnih vrtcev v Sloveniji (N = 133) smo analizirali navade, namene, ovire in skrbi pri obiskovanju gozda. V največji meri sta pogostost in dolžina obiska gozda odvisni od njegove oddaljenosti. Navade obiska gozda med gozdnimi vrtci, vključeni mi v Mrežo gozdnih vrtcev, ki jo organizira Inštitut za gozdno pedagogiko, se večinoma ne razlikujejo značilno od splošnih javnih vrtcev. Najpomembnejša razlika med njimi je pogostejši obisk v slabšem vremenu in sam namen obiska gozda. Glavne skrbi pri obisku gozda so klopi, strah pred poškodbami in neprimerna oprema otrok. Za manj pogostejši obisk gozda vzgojitelji navajajo med drugim tudi druge vzgojne prioritete vrtcev in premalo podpore s strani vodstva ter staršev, kar nakazuje potrebo po strateški promociji, izobraževanju in implementaciji preživljanja časa v gozdu v okviru predšolske vzgoje.
Keywords: gozdni vrtci, gozdna pedagogika, obisk gozda, razvoj otrok, klopi, predšolska vzgoja, okoljska vzgoja, naravna učna okolja
Published in DiRROS: 01.12.2021; Views: 3425; Downloads: 1981
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Abstract: Early diagnosis with rapid detection of the virus plays a key role in preventing the spread of infection and in treating patients effectively. In order to address the need for a straightforward detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection and assessment of viral spread, we developed rapid, sensitive, extraction-free one-step reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in saliva. We analyzed over 700 matched pairs of saliva and nasopharyngeal swab (NSB) specimens from asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. Saliva, as either an oral cavity swab or passive drool, was collected in an RNA stabilization buffer. The stabilized saliva specimens were heat-treated and directly analyzed without RNA extraction. The diagnostic sensitivity of saliva-based RT-qPCR was at least 95% in individuals with subclinical infection and outperformed RT-LAMP, which had at least 70% sensitivity when compared to NSBs analyzed with a clinical RT-qPCR test. The diagnostic sensitivity for passive drool saliva was higher than that of oral cavity swab specimens (95% and 87%, respectively). A rapid, sensitive one-step extraction-free RT-qPCR test for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in passive drool saliva is operationally simple and can be easily implemented using existing testing sites, thus allowing high-throughput, rapid, and repeated testing of large populations. Furthermore, saliva testing is adequate to detect individuals in an asymptomatic screening program and can help improve voluntary screening compliance for those individuals averse to various forms of nasal collections.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, COVID-19 serological testing, real-time polymerase chain reaction, saliva, oral cavity swab, passive drool, pooling
Published in DiRROS: 09.11.2021; Views: 1086; Downloads: 545
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Abstract: Heat islands (HI) are a common anthropogenic phenomenon and are defined as artificial surfaces (urban areas) that have a higher average temperature than their surroundings (rural areas). The aim of this work was to determine the influence of land use on the spatial distribution and intensity (HIi ) of HI in Slovenia. The MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Corine Land Cover (CLC) databases were used to perform the analysis. Within the identified HI, two HI levels were determined based on temperature difference. The results revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between HIi and both forest co%ver and forest fragmentation (forest edge density and ratio of mean forest patch size to HI size). Artificial surface was positively correlated with HIi . The results contribute to the understanding of the spatial distribution of HI and HIi and provide informati%on for spatial planning and policy-making to reduce the negative impact of HI.
Keywords: heat island, forest cover, artificial surface, forest fragmentation
Published in DiRROS: 17.08.2021; Views: 3467; Downloads: 2052
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Abstract: Introduction: Cryoproteins, such as cryoglobulins, cryofibrinogens and cold agglutinins, precipitate at low temperatures or agglutinate erythrocytes and dissolve again when warmed. Their pathogenetic and diagnostic importance in cold urticaria (ColdU) is unclear. In this study, we aimed to characterize the prevalence of cryoproteins in patients with ColdU. Methods: We conducted 3 analyses: i) a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data using an adapted version of the Johanna Briggs Institute's critical appraisal tool for case series, ii) a retrospective analysis of 293 ColdU patients treated at our Urticaria Center of Reference and Excellence (UCARE) from 2014 to 2019, and iii) a prospective observational study, from July 2019 to July 2020, with 49 ColdU patients as defined by the EAACI/GA2LEN/EDF/UNEV consensus recommendations. Results: Our systematic review identified 14 relevant studies with a total of 1151 ColdU patients. The meta-analyses showed that 3.0% (19/628), 1.1% (4/357) and 0.7% (2/283) of patients had elevated levels of cryoglobulins, cryofibrinogens, and cold agglutinins, respectively. Our retrospective analyses showed that cryoproteins were assessed in 4.1% (12/293) of ColdU patients. None of nine ColdU patients had cryoglobulins, and one of 5 had cold agglutinins. In our prospective study, none of our patients had detectable cryoglobulins (0/48) or cryofibrinogens (0/48), but 4.3% (2/46) of patients had cold agglutinins (without any known underlying autoimmune or hematological disorder). Conclusion: Our investigation suggests that only very few ColdU patients exhibit cryoproteins and that the pathogenesis of ColdU is driven by other mechanisms, which remain to be identified and characterized in detail.
Keywords: urticaria, review, observational study, retrospective studies, cold urticaria, cryoglobulins, cryofibrinogens, cold agglutinins, retrospective analysis
Published in DiRROS: 28.05.2021; Views: 1165; Downloads: 974
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