On vertical distribution of tintinnines (Ciliata,Oligotrichida, Tintinnina) in the open waters of the South Adriatic

The vertical distribution of tintinnines was studied in the open sea of the South Adriatic at a station near the city of Dubrovnik (Station 12) in the period from 1979–1980 as well as at 11 stations during a cruise in January 1980. Samples were taken with the 53-m Nansen type net equipped with a closing system. The hauls were taken in 7 vertical layers. In the area investigated 72 species of tintinnines were observed. Six dominating species contributed from 30 to 93%, an average of 63% of the total numerical abundance of tintinnines. Based on the occurrence of the majority of the population of individual species going from the surface towards the sea bottom, the tintinnines have been divided into 5 groups. Most of the species (42), presenting more than 90% of the population, were found in the layer between the surface and a depth of 100 m. Other species were found in deeper layers (rarely or almost never at the surface).     

Ex situ bioremediation of a soil contaminated by mazut (heavy residual fuel oil)--a field experiment

Mazut (heavy residual fuel oil)-polluted soil was exposed to bioremediation in an ex situ field-scale (600 m(3)) study. Re-inoculation was performed periodically with biomasses of microbial consortia isolated from the mazut-contaminated soil. Biostimulation was conducted by adding nutritional elements (N, P and K). The biopile (depth 0.4m) was comprised of mechanically mixed polluted soil with softwood sawdust and crude river sand. Aeration was improved by systematic mixing. The biopile was protected from direct external influences by a polyethylene cover. Part (10 m(3)) of the material prepared for bioremediation was set aside uninoculated, and maintained as an untreated control pile (CP). Biostimulation and re-inoculation with zymogenous microorganisms increased the number of hydrocarbon degraders after 50 d by more than 20 times in the treated soil. During the 5 months, the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content of the contaminated soil was reduced to 6% of the initial value, from 5.2 to 0.3 g kg(-1) dry matter, while TPH reduced to only 90% of the initial value in the CP. After 150 d there were 96%, 97% and 83% reductions for the aliphatic, aromatic, and nitrogen-sulphur-oxygen and asphaltene fractions, respectively. The isoprenoids, pristane and phytane, were more than 55% biodegraded, which indicated that they are not suitable biomarkers for following bioremediation. According to the available data, this is the first field-scale study of the bioremediation of mazut and mazut sediment-polluted soil, and the efficiency achieved was far above that described in the literature to date for heavy fuel oil.     

Natural bitumens versus oil pollution in the Vlasina lake peat

Free and associated bitumens were isolated by sequential extraction from Vlasina lake peat (SE Serbia) and were investigated in order to differentiate between oil pollution and natural bitumens. Four peat samples were collected at different depths, on a peat island. Gas chromatographic (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis revealed the presence of three markedly different bitumen fractions. Here we show that the free bitumens are representing the native peat bitumens. The two associated bitumens are mainly the products of bacterial rework of organic substance, which were then trapped by two differing mechanisms. The bitumens characteristics and association features exclude a contribution of oil pollution.Selected article from the Regional Symposium on Chemistry and Environment Krusevac, Serbia, June 2003, organised by Dr. Branimir Jovancicevic.     

The Quality of Water in the Buško Blato Reservoir

The article presents the results of chemical andmicrobiological measurements of the water quality in theBuko Blato reservoir, the largest in Europe, in the period 1989 to 1998.The aim was to observe possiblechanges in water quality during the past decade and itsinfluence on the downstream section of the Cetina River andits numerous tributaries and reservoirs, where there are twolarge regional water supply systems. This reservoir wasbuilt in order to exploit the high hydro-electric potentialof small streamflows in the karst fields of south-westernBosnia. It has strongly influenced the hydrologicconditions of the downstream section of the Cetina River.Buko Blato is a relatively shallow reservoir with the meandepth of 5 m. It covers an area of 57 km². The waterexchange in the reservoir is slow, occurring from one toseveral years. When the water inflow exceeds the hydroelectric plant demands the excess water is delivered by a reversible channel and pre-pumped into the Buko Blato reservoir. The total and carbonate water hardness in thereservoir is lower than in the Cetina River and in typicalkarst streamflows, since the water in this reservoir comesmainly from surface sources including numerous springs withhigh capacity oscillations, torrents and rainfall.Measurements, carried out during the past years, showed asignificant increase in nitrate content as well as in thecoli bacteria and a less significant increase in totalphosphorus content. The water quality was evaluated asmezotrophic according to the total phosphorus content basedon the Carlson index of trophic level, a lower quality thanin the Perua reservoir, upstream on the Cetina River. Thelatter contains a smaller phosphorus content and wasclassed between oligotrophic and mezotrophic. According tothese data, employing the Vollenweider equation, the totalphosphorus content in this water should not exceed the meanof 20 mg m^-3 P. The results indicate that the water inthe Buko Blato reservoir did not deteriorate the waterquality on the downstream section of the Cetina River.     

Kinetic sodium analyses in the crab Carcinus mediterraneus

Kinetic analyses were made of the stable sodium and radioactive sodium (²²Na) in some tissues of the crab Carcinus mediterraneus CSRN. Fast ²²Na outflux constant is increased in gills, hepatopancreas, hemolymph, digestive tract and muscles. In the reproductive organs the values of the sodium outflux constant are lower. The values of the fast outflux rates (t=20°C) of sodium amount, in the whole animal, to 22.5 M Na/g/h, in the hemolymph, to 69.3 M Na/g/h; the slow outflux rates have much lower values (0.02 to 0.13 M Na/g/h). Moulting crabs show a rate of sodium outflux 6 times greater than that of intermoulting individuals.     

Terrestrial Biodiversity Analyses in Dalmatia (Croatia): A Complementary Approach Using Diversity and Rarity

Here we present the methodology used for terrestrial biodiversity analysis and site selection in Phase B of the UNDP/GEF COAST project. The analysis was focused on the problem of biodiversity evaluation in four Croatian counties stretching from sea level to the highest mountain in Croatia. Data on habitats, vascular flora, and fauna (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, ground beetles, and underground invertebrates) were collected and analyzed for each of the four counties. Emphasis was given to the richness of endangered species and the rarity of endemic species. Based on the spatial analyses of habitat, fauna, and flora data, four to six areas were selected from each county and ranked according to their biodiversity importance. Overlap between areas important for richness and those important for rarity was highest for data on flora (65.5%) and lowest for data on fauna (16.7%). When different data sets were compared, the lowest overlap was between flora and fauna (17.1%) and largest between fauna and habitats (23.9%). Simultaneous overlap among all three data sets was found in just 6.5% of the overall selected areas. These results suggest that less specific data, with respect to taxa threat status, could better serve as surrogate data in estimating overall biodiversity. In summary, this analysis has demonstrated that Dalmatia is a region with a high overall biodiversity that is important in a broader European context.     

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.     

Determination of the insecticide diflubenzuron in mushrooms by kinetic method and high-performance liquid chromatographic method

In the present study, a new sensitive and simple kinetic-spectrophotometric method for the determination of the insecticide diflubenzuron [1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-(2,6-diflubenzoil)urea] is proposed. The method is based on the inhibited effect of diflubenzuron on the oxidation of sulphanilic acid (SA) by hydrogen peroxide in phosphate buffer in presence Cu(II) ion. Diflubenzuron was determined with linear calibration graph in the interval from 0.31 to 3.1 μg mL^?1 and from 3.1 to 31.0 μg mL^?1. The optimized conditions yielded a theoretical detection limit of 0.18 μg mL^?1corresponding to 0.036 mg Kg^?1mushroom sample based on the 3S_b criterion. The RSD is 5.03–1.83 % and 2.81–0.71 % for the concentration interval of diflubenzuron 0.31–3.1 μg mL^?1and 3.1–31.0 μg mL^?1, respectively. The reaction was followed spectrophotometrically at 370 nm. The kinetic parameters of the reaction are reported, and the rate equations are suggested. The developed procedure was successfully applied to the rapid determination of diflubenzuron in spiked mushroom samples of different mushroom species. The HPLC method was used like a comparative method to verify results.     

Chemical composition and hygroscopic properties of size-segregated aerosol particles collected at the Adriatic coast of Slovenia

The chemical composition as well as the water uptake characteristics of aerosols was determined in size-segregated samples collected during November 2002 on the Slovenian coast. Major ions, water-soluble organic compounds (WSOC), short-chain carboxylic acids and trace elements were determined in the water-soluble fraction of the aerosol. Total aerosol black carbon (BC) was measured from filter samples. Our results showed that the origin of air masses is an important factor that controls the variation in the size distribution of the main components. Very high concentrations of WSOC as well as higher concentrations of BC were found under mostly continental influence. Besides the main ionic species (SO4(2-), NH4(+), K+) in the finest size fraction (0.17-0.53 microm), the concentration of NO3(-) was also high. The difference between the two different air mass origins is particularly expressed for Cl-, Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ determined in particles larger than 1.6 microm. As expected, a very good correlation was found between Na+ and Cl-. A good correlation was found between sea salt elements and elements of crustal origin (Na+, Cl-, Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr). A good relationship between typical anthropogenic tracers (K, V and Pb) was also observed. The mass growth factors, for all size fractions of aerosols collected under continental influence were very low (maximum 2.23 at 94%, 1.6-5.1 microm), while under marine influence the mass growth factors increased significantly with the particle size. At 97% humidity, the mass growth factors were 6.95 for the size fraction 0.53-1.6 microm and 9.78 for larger particles (1.6-5.1 microm).