Bluetongue virus in Europe: the current epidemiological situation

The article reviews the history of BT occurrence in Europe and its present status. It describes the distribution of BT in Europe before 1998, the emergence of BTV in southern and eastern Europe in 1998-2006 and the epidemiology of BT in north-western Europe after 2006. Up to 1998, sporadic cases of BT were noted in Cyprus, on the Iberian Peninsula and on several Greek islands. However, since 1998, probably due to climatic changes, BTV has spread northwards into the Mediterranean Basin, where five BTV serotypes (1, 2, 4, 9 and 16) have been identified. In August 2006, BTV passed for the first time latitude 50°N, and BT outbreaks caused by BTV serotype 8 occurred in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Luxembourg. Mass vaccination campaigns implemented in Europe in the spring of 2008 quickly limited the spread of disease caused by BTV-8, and it was eradicated by 2011. However, after a 3-year break, in September 2015, BTV-8 re-emerged in Europe, in central France, and subsequently spread throughout the entire country. In the following years, BTV-8 outbreaks were found in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Spain. In addition to BTV-8 outbreaks, BTV serotypes 1, 2, 4, 9 and 16 have recently circulated in Europe. As revealed by phylogeographic inference, the recent spread of BTV in Europe is a consequence of climatic, landscape and vertebrate host factors

Coping strategies for extreme weather in dryland agriculture

Dryland areas account for 48% of area under food crop and 52% under non-food crop cultivation and contribute about 42% of total food grain production in India. Drought is the predominant weather extreme influencing the socio-economic structure of not only dry land regions but also the entire country. Various drought monitoring techniques and mechanisms aim at mitigating the drought impacts at different spatial scales. They are discussed briefly here with strategies to cope up this weather anomaly at different time scales. Dry land districts that are prone to frequent hail episodes are identified and measures to minimize damage to agriculture are also discussed.

Redefining of “EPSG” and “PROJ” for current State Coordinate Reference System of the Republic of North Macedonia

The state Coordinate Reference System (CRS) of the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM) has been established a century ago, by the Military Geographic Institute of the Yugoslavia Kingdom. It is in official usage entire period up to day. In international public EPSG registry of geodetic datums, spatial reference systems, Earth ellipsoids, coordinate transformations and related units of measurement, CRS for RNM is recognizable within 3 EPSG codes 6204, 6316 and 8679.First code EPSG 6204 represents current state CRS for the entire country area, based on current law, however unfortunately this CRS is official by the law but it is not used for developing the official spatial data published in geoportals of Agency for Real Estate Cadastre (AREC) and NSDI geoportal of RNM. The second code EPSG 6316 is defined to be used for 6 countries of former Yugoslavia that covers area between 19.5°E up to 22.5°E longitude, which does not correspond with the practical and official usage of CRS for working with spatial data in RNM and CRS law definition in RNM. Third code EPSG 8679 has never been used in RNM, which covers eastern part of RNM and Serbia beginning from 22.5°E.Beside of problems with EPSG codes, default transformation parameters of EPSG 6316 have low accuracy and can not be used for data overlapping with open layers. Therefore, redefined new EPSG codes for state CRS of RNM are proposed in this paper.

Lean manufacturing as a way to optimize costs: Principles, tools, and implementation practices

Subject. This article deals with the tools of lean manufacturing concept that seek to eliminate losses or minimize them as much as possible while improving the quality of products provided. Objectives. The article aims to examine the theoretical and methodological aspects of the lean concept, and describe the foreign experience of using lean technologies. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of analysis, retrospection, comparison, and generalization. To present the study results, I used the tabular method. Results. The article defines the notion of Loss (Muda) and types of losses specified in dedicated sources. It describes the techniques that help companies eliminate losses and maximize market orientation through their staff members’ participation. The article defines the content and discusses the implications of implementing various key tools of the lean concept. Conclusions. Lean technologies can be implemented both individually and in combination with one another. When combined, the technologies can help both optimize labor and tangible costs, and meet the needs of customers. The use of a wide range of lean concepts can contribute to solving socioeconomic challenges faced by an individual economic entity and the entire country.

The effect of COVID-19 on maternal and neonatal outcome - A retrospective study

The pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused serious adverse effects on the human race. There are limited data on maternal and neonatal outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19.An observational descriptive study was conducted in the department of obstetrics & gynaecology at SMSR and Sharda hospital located in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. This medical college drains patients from entire Greater Noida and as well as from far-away places as referrals. All pregnant patients were included that came to this hospital from 1 April to 31 May 2021. These were the two dreadful months for the entire country in which so many lives were lost. All pregnant patients were labelled COVID-19 positive after undergoing either Rapid antigen test/RTPCR test taken from nasopharyngeal and oral swab.: This included assessment of the maternal morbidity and mortality, comorbidities & worsening of outcome due to COVID-19 infection in pregnant patients as well assessment of the effect of COVID-19 infection on fetus and newborn.

Occupational Health of Frontline Healthcare Workers in the United Arab Emirates during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Snapshot of Summer 2020

The study aim was to understand the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the levels of anxiety, depression, and burnout of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study was an online-based, cross-sectional survey during July and August 2020. Participants were eligible from the entire country, and 1290 agreed to participate. The majority of HCWs were females aged 30–39 years old, working as nurses, and 80% considered PPE to be available. Twelve percent of respondents tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Half of HCWs considered themselves physically tired (52.2%), reported musculoskeletal pain or discomfort (54.2%), and perceived moderate-to-high levels of burnout on at least one of three burnout domains (52.8%). A quarter of HCWs reported anxiety (26.3%) or depression (28.1%). HCWs reporting not having musculoskeletal pain, having performed physical activity, and higher scores of available PPE reported lower scores of anxiety, depression, and burnout. UAE HCWs experienced more access to PPE and less anxiety, depression, and burnout compared with HCWs in other countries. Study findings can be used by healthcare organizations and policymakers to ensure adequate measures are implemented to maximize the health and wellbeing of HCWs during the current COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Tracing Buried Selves: In Search of Punjabi Dalit Woman Autobiography

This article is an attempt to understand the significance of autobiographies with particular reference to Punjabi dalit women. In fact, autobiographies are one of the effective mediums for breaking the silence and create a constructive dialogue among people. These dialogues are prerequisite for the solidarity, democracy, equality and fraternity in the society. Besides, the autobiographies from the marginalized section challenge the exploitative established norms. Therefore, to write autobiographies is a courageous act full of risk and daring. In this context, there are more than hundred dalit autobiographies written in Indian languages, but in Punjabi literary discourses only a few dalit autobiographies have been written. However, according to Census 2011, in Punjab state, population of Scheduled Caste people is highest in India that constitutes 31.94% of the population in comparison to 16.6% in the entire country. Despite the largest population of dalits in Punjab, shockingly, there is not a single autobiography that has been written by a dalit woman until date. In this situation, it is a challenge for educated Punjabi dalit women to write their life narratives or autobiographies. They have to represent not only their pain in front of the world but also write about the consciousness, unconsciousness and subconsciousness of their community women who have not got opportunity to attain education. This article will examine and trace the problematics and complexities of gaps and silences so far as autobiographies of Punjabi dalit women are concerned.

Analyses of River Oil-Spills and Actual Solving Methods

Nowadays, there is an increasing emphasis on the problem of water quality. Of the many polluting effects, oil pollution is perhaps the most harmful, but its effects are being studied mostly on large seas and oceans worldwide. In the case of Transylvania and probably the entire country, pollution of rivers by oil – based on yearly occurrence – has a larger effect than that of sea pollution. Every year we observe 40-55 such water pollution events, therefore, analysis and investigation of solution methods is of great importance. This paper attempts to shed light on this issue, presenting also the method currently used by the Romanian Water Authority.

Trichinellosis among the human population in Vojvodina

The origin of the parasites of Trichinella species goes back to very ancient times–as far as the Paleozoic era, and the organism has been present in the territory of today’s Europe for millions of years. The first epidemic in the region of Serbia was reported in Zemun in 1923. Trichinellosis is the most important parasitic food borne disease in our country. In Vojvodina alone, 58 epidemic outbreaks were reported in the period 2015-2019 with 853 affected patients. The average incidence was 3.5 diseased individuals per 100 000 population. High morbidity and hospitalization rates and the occurrence of lethal outcomes qualifies trichinellosis as belonging to the category of relatively severe human diseases in Serbia. However, there are promising data indicating that implementation of relevant control measures and improvement of the awareness of the population have led to a statistically significant decrease in the number of diseased persons with trichinellosis in both Vojvodina and the entire country.