Driving under the influence of alcohol and the effects of alcohol prohibition—Case study in Serbia

Objective: The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the prevalence of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) according to day of the week, specific roads (urban/rural), daytime or nighttime, and vehicle category. In addition, this study examines how the prohibition of selling alcoholic drinks in shops and supermarkets (not in restaurants) after 10 p.m. has affected the prevalence of DUI.

Method: Breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) was collected from all drivers through police checkpoints at 54 locations in Serbia. In this study, 17,945 drivers were tested in urban areas and 19,507 in rural areas. The relationship between DUI during the prohibition on alcohol sales in Belgrade and other large cities in Serbia was determined using logistic regression.

Results: On average, every 100th driver in traffic in Serbia was DUI (0.99%). This study shows that the 0 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for motorcyclists does not have an influence on DUI. Moreover, motorcyclists represent the category with the highest share of DUI, with a statistically significantly larger difference compared to drivers of other vehicle categories. These results may be a consequence of the fact that a large number of drivers drive both motorcycles and other vehicle categories (cars or mopeds), so the different BAC limits for nonprofessional drivers may create confusion about the legal BAC limit.

Conclusions: This study suggests that the required legal BAC limit for nonprofessional drivers should be the same. The prohibition of selling alcoholic drinks in Belgrade after 10 p.m. does not decrease the prevalence of DUI.     

40K, 226Ra, 232Th, 238U and 137Cs relationships and behaviour in sedimentary rocks and sediments of a karstic coastal area (Kaštela Bay,Croatia) and related rocks and sediments’ differentiation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Natural (40K, 226Ra, 232Th, 238U) and anthropogenic (137Cs) radionuclides in consolidated sedimentary rocks (limestones s.l. and marls) and...     

Uptake of Cd,Pb, U,and Zn by plants in floodplain pollution hotspots contributes to secondary contamination

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Willows, woody plants of genus Salix common in floodplains of temperate regions, act as plant pumps and translocate the Cd and Zn in the soil profiles...     

Comparison of inorganic and composite ferric oxide sorbents for arsenic removal

Three different sorbents based on hydrated ferric oxide (GEH, ArsenX^np and Lewatit FO 36) were compared from the viewpoints of their column operation. Particle size distribution, pressure drop across the column and ferric oxide content were measured. Sorption capacities under the presence of accompanying ions were measured in batch wise and column experiments.     

Sown species richness and realized diversity can influence functioning of plant communities differently

Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning experiments (BEF) typically manipulate sown species richness and composition of experimental communities to study ecosystem functioning as a response to changes in diversity. If sown species richness is taken as a measure of diversity and aboveground biomass production as a measure of community functioning, then this relationship is usually found to be positive. The sown species richness can be considered the equivalent of a local species pool in natural communities. However, in addition to species richness, realized diversity is also an important community diversity component. Realized diversity is affected by environmental filtering and biotic interactions operating within a community. As both sown species richness and the realized diversity in BEF studies (as well as local species pool vs observed realized richness in natural communities) can differ markedly, so can their effects on the community functioning. We tested this assumption using two data sets: data from a short-term pot experiment and data from the long-term Jena biodiversity plot experiment. We considered three possible predictors of community functioning (aboveground biomass production): sown species richness, realized diversity (defined as inverse of Simpson dominance index), and survivor species richness. Sown species richness affected biomass production positively in all cases. Realized diversity as well as survivor species richness had positive effects on biomass in approximately half of cases. When realized diversity or survivor species richness was tested together with sown species richness, their partial effects were none or negative. Our results suggest that we can expect positive diversity–productivity relationship when the local species pool size is the decisive factor determining realized observed diversity; in other cases, the shape of the diversity–functioning relationship may be quite opposite.     

Retrospective monitoring and inventory of soil contamination in relation to systematic monitoring

Retrospective monitoring of soil contamination has been performed in the Czech Republic. This kind of monitoring is based on the comparison of the heavy metals content in soil samples taken during a systematic soil survey (1960–1970) and in samples taken at the present time. The anticipated high degree of soil pollution in the Czech Republic has not been proved. Most of the contaminated soils were found to be loaded just 20–35 years ago. Retrospective monitoring is considered to be an accelerating tool for determining the strategy of the systematic monitoring of soil contamination. This procedure stimulated the development of the multi-step system of soil loading limits.     

Monitoring of krypton-85 activity in the atmosphere around Prague

The results of measurements of Krypton-85 (⁸⁵Kr) concentrations in the ground-level air of Prague between 1983 and 1992 are presented and time-related changes analysed. The long-term trend in activity level of ⁸⁵Kr has been steadily increasing with a growth rate of 0.04 Bq.m^–3 (STP) per year. Some peaks of ⁸⁵Kr activity were observed due to the influence of undispersed radioactive plumes coming from distant sources. Short-term variations within a typical range of concentrations from 0.61 to 1.25 Bq.m^–3 (STP) were found to be seasonally dependent, with the maximum occurring in spring.