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This paper aims to analyze the research on the current situation of water-saving agriculture development in Europe. Water-saving agriculture in Europe started early, governments and farmers in various countries have a strong awareness of water-saving in agriculture and have achieved certain results. Due to the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of up-to-date field research, the complexity of various agricultural disciplines and categories, and the lack of information sharing, the current cognition of recent progress in the development of water-saving agriculture in Europe is not comprehensive enough. This paper selects four representative European countries: Spain, Germany, Italy, and Denmark as the research objects. Based on the existing research of Chinese and Western scholars, this paper analyzes and studies the current situation of water-saving agriculture in Europe. It has far-reaching significance for other countries in the world to have further development in water-saving agriculture and to protect water resources.
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Introduction: Patients' negligence and difficult access to healthcare have an impact on the worsening of emergency conditions, which require immediate treatment due to the possibility of exacerbation in a short period of time. Untreated intra- and extraoral abscesses can have serious consequences on the patient's health and in many cases are life-threatening conditions increasing risk of respiratory obstruction, thrombophlebitis, meningitis, mediastinitis and septicemia. Background: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the pandemic and the resulting impediments to accessing medical care on the incidence and type of emergencies in the Oral Surgery Department. Material and methods: This was a retrospective study of 85375 patients aged 2 months to 90 years old with diagnosed intra- and extraoral abscesses before COVID-19 pandemic (2018,2019), and during pandemic (2020, 2021) in the Department of Oral Surgery of the Medical University in Lublin. The obtained results were statistically analyzed with the use of a computer program. Conclusions: The fewest patients were admitted in 2020, and the most in 2021, where we can already see the effects of the pandemic. Emergencies occurred most frequently in people aged 21-30, then 31-40. In 365 cases, tooth extraction was performed, and only in 28 cases, root canal treatment was attempted. Conclusions. Oral health service provision has been significantly affected by COVID-19. Patients came to their appointments too late, which in most cases resulted in the necessity of tooth extraction without attempting root canal treatment.
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Aquaculture production in Bulgaria has increased over the last decade, reaching 16 442 tonnes in 2019. Fish production has doubled in comparison with 2007, while that of mussels has increased tenfold. The Bulgarian contribution to EU aquaculture production has been increasing significantly in both volume and value over the years, making up 1.15% of the volume and 1.0% of the value of EU production in 2019. Freshwater aquaculture accounts for 78% of total production. Common carp dominates with about 29.4% (4836 t), followed by rainbow trout with 29.2% (4820 t) in 2019. The cultivation of sturgeon species and caviar production are among the most dynamically developing aquaculture segments. Mariculture in the Black Sea has increased in recent years, with the production of Mediterranean mussel reaching 2932 tonnes in 2019. An average of 405 farms operated during the period 2010-2019. Four regions (Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Burgas and Montana) account for 50% of the total fish production. Pond aquaculture is the dominant technology used in Bulgaria, and it serves as the basis for numerous other activities, including management of fish stocks in various water bodies mainly for recreational fishing. Approximately 35 net-cage farms currently operate in bigger dams. Recirculating fish farms output made up only 0.15% of the total amount of aquaculture for the period 2010-2019. The aquaculture sector exhibited difficulties in recovering from the financial crisis of 2007-2008, manifested by a slow growth for the period 2010-2014. From 2015 to 2019 there has been a significant growth, manifested in a sharp increase of total revenue and profitability, especially among the larger enterprises in the sector, as well as an increase in the number of employees, and the labour productivity. As a result, in 2019 the registered total revenue per enterprise and total revenue per employee were more than double the respective figures for 2010. The profits of larger enterprises increased more than three times on average, but smaller entities, micro-enterprises with less than 5 employees, operated at the border line between profit and loss. The COVID-19 crisis could have lasting consequences. Despite EUR 1.2 million direct payments in the sector in 2020, there has been a significant drop in the export of aquaculture products. Consumption of fish and other aquaculture products remains low compared to those in the other EU countries.
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The various crises are having a significant impact on the entire food sector and are changing the attitudes of Europeans as well as policies on the importance of food security and sustainably produced quality and safe food for consumer health. The paper focuses on the consumer's fear of food security for the time of the first wave of COVID-19 and the associated concern for food security in the future and the changes in consumer behaviour. The online survey in Slovenia was conducted in June 2020 using a "snowball" method. The sample included 490 individuals. The results showed that both measured forms of fear (i) fear over food security during the first wave of COVID-19 crisis, and (ii) fear over food security in the future were statistically significant, moderately strong and positively associated with almost all forms of self-perceived behaviour change caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The respondents focused more on buying locally produced and processed food, food stockpiling and decreasing food waste. Only minor changes were expressed with regards to their food purchasing channels, with the elderly, the highly educated and those who classified themselves in a higher social class buying more often directly from farmers. In the future, the results of this research should be compared with other countries and the impact of an individual's economic situation and the impact of promotional campaigns on agricultural products on changing consumer behaviour should also be analysed in more detail.
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Patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and with high mortality rates due to Coronavirus disease 2019, mainly because of the older age in this group of patients, comorbidities, compromised immune status due to uremia, as well as inability to keep social isolation because of the necessity for regular physical presence in dialysis facility. Several retrospective studies of patients on MHD in Europe, America and Asia, show high susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 in this group of patients with very high rates of critical course of the disease and high mortality rates, reaching more than 40% The aim of this retrospective observational study was to identify risk factors among patients on intermittent hemodialysis for infection with SARS-CoV-2 as well as predictors of severe COVID-19 and fatal outcome. Materials and methods. We analyzed 69 patients receiving intermittent dialysis in Aleksandrovska University Hospital - Hemodialysis Unit. 34 of them have been tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the period from September 2020 (when the first case of the disease was registered for our dialysis center) up to March 2022, and are compared with a control group of 35 dialysis-dependent patients without COVID-19. Data about comorbidities, main laboratory and radiologic findings, need of hospitalization and treatment in ICU, as well as data for conducted treatment, are collected from electronic medical records. To identify predictors of severe COVID and poor outcome we compared the group of survivors with the one of non-survivors. Results. There are no significant differences between patients on MHD with and without COVID-19 except higher frequency of COPD and hypoproteinemia in the positive group. Older age, female gender, history of smoking, lymphopenia with neutrophilia, treatment in ICU and need of mechanical ventilation, signs of malnutrition - hypoproteinemia and lower levels of serum creatinine, are risk factors for severe disease and fatal outcomes. Conclusions. The course of COVID infection in dialysis-dependent patients is severe and with high mortality rate, in line with other studies worldwide. Malnutrition is the main risk factor for COVID and also main predictor for poor outcomes.
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Urban space is often the cause of disputes. The underlying causes of these disputes are conflicting interests, attitudes and needs regarding the way it is used. Among the various functions performed by cities, tourism activities have been distinguished as the foremost in the cities of historical value. Mass tourism has developed in the last decade and its excessive flow of tourists has in turn led to overtourism which as described in literature is a negative phenomenon. The causes of conflicts related to the development of tourism and their scale are very diverse. The freezing of the tourism economy during the COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity to balance its development in the future. As described in the article, this research aims at identifying the attitudes and expectations of Krakow's residence towards the tools of balancing the tourism economy in the post pandemic period. The statistical analysis of the acquired data collected through questionnaires from 386 respondents during July 2020 revealed that most of the respondents support the preservation of cultural heritage and landscapes over business and profit making.
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Digital nomads live a new way of life that creates an ideal balance of work and leisure. Research on the phenomenon of digital nomads is still in its early stages and is not fully framed as a proper research category. Therefore, the present research aims to explore research on digital nomadism by study leading countries, authors and themes that can become a foundation for future research. This study is exploratory and interpretive - using bibliometrics, we systematically searched all articles indexed in the Web of Science database. The study presents the evolution of scholarly production, and identifies key authors and countries that have the potential to become pioneers in digital nomad research. We identified 17 core concepts of digital nomad research as well as concepts that have not yet received much attention from scientists. Additionally, our study provides a framework for research on digital nomadism and presents topics for future research: we determine how the 17 core concepts identified in this study affect the lives of digital nomads, research into legislation that directly affects digital nomads, study how COVID-19 has changed working styles, and offer a bibliometric analysis of data on digital nomads from other databases.
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Introduction and objective: Diabetes, with its medical complications and societal consequences, is one the most difficult concerns for modern society. The purpose of this narrative review is to characterize the selected public health challenges and opportunities resulting from diabetes in Poland, as well as to identify public health measures that may be adopted to lower the diabetes burden in Poland. Review methods: This narrative review is based on the literature about diabetes in Poland. Scientific papers on diabetes published between 1 January 2010-31 January 2023, available in the PubMed database, were identified using a combination of the following key words: 'diabetes', 'Poland', 'public knowledge', 'management' and 'costs'. Particular attention was paid to the following diabetes-related issues: (1) current and forecast prevalence of diabetes in Poland, (2) diabetic care before and after the COVID-19 pandemic onset, (3) public knowledge of diabetes and diabetes risk factors, and (4) public health interventions to reduce the diabetes burden at the population level. Abbreviated description of the state of knowledge: A continuous growth of both the incidence and the prevalence of diabetes is predicted. Due to insufficient public awareness of diabetes risk factors and symptoms, and the health-debt caused by COVID-19 pandemic, a further rise in the number of diabetic complications is expected, as well as an increase in public spending on health care and social insurance systems. Summary: Public health interventions targeted at preventing diabetes and its complications should not be confined to reducing complications and improving diabetes care, but also include a wide range of initiatives aimed at addressing the fundamental causes of diabetes. Future study should look at the cost-effectiveness of such initiatives in order to mobilize different stakeholders and society.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 is a pandemic disease, which commonly presents with fatigue, loss of smell, fever and ground-glass opacities on diagnostic imaging of the lungs. After the first few months of the pandemic, we noticed a tendency for audio-vestibular complaints on out-patient visits post-hospitalization for COVID-19. Objective. The aim of this study was to study the prevalence of audio-vestibular complaints in COVID-19. Materials and methods. This study included 57 patients with audio-vestibular complaints during and after hospitalization for COVID-19 at University Hospital Kaspela in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The patients underwent both auditory and vestibular tests, as well as a computed tomography of the cranial brain. Results. The ratio of males to females was 1,35:1, with most belonging to the age group of 51 to 70 years (63,2%). All 57 patients had sudden hearing loss - unilateral in 36 (63,2%) and bilateral in 21 (36,8%), while 17 patients (29.8%) additionally had subjective tinnitus. Forty-eight patients (84,2%) had vestibular complaints - general dizziness in 46 (95,8%) and rotatory vertigo in two (4,2%). Two patients had spontaneous nystagmus (3,5%), 43 (75,4%) - saccades, and 25 (43,9%) - smooth pursuit and gaze disturbances. Romberg with closed eyes was positive in two patients (3,5%), and Fukuda lateralized to the healthy ear also in two patients (3,5%). Dix-Hallpike was positive in one patient (1,8%). The video head-impulse test was positive in two patients (3,5%). Vascular encephalopathy was found on computed tomography in 33 patients (57,9%). Conclusions. Coronavirus disease 2019 may be associated with vestibulocochlear nerve damage, and in most cases, it is an isolated injury to the auditory nerve. Complaints of dizziness are most likely due to vascular changes in the central nervous system.
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This is the first study to examine the differential impact of Croatian and European economic policy uncertainty indices while controlling for the real effective exchange rate and industrial production on international tourist arrivals for the seven coastal counties of Croatia and the country as a whole. The Toda-Yamamoto long-run causality modeling approach with a Fourier approximation is employed to capture structural shifts. This approach is particularly useful in light of the disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector. The results show unidirectional causality from both Croatian and European economic policy uncertainty indices to international tourist arrivals with the impact of the economic policy uncertainty indices negative and statistically significant across the respective coastal counties. Moreover, the findings show that European economic policy uncertainty exhibits a greater adverse impact on international tourist arrivals relative to Croatian economic policy uncertainty.
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Shingles is a viral skin disease caused by the Varicella Zoster virus. We report varicella zoster virus reactivation in three long-time athletes after vaccination with a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. The three athletes had no evidence of immunosuppressive conditions or other illnesses, and all three did not suffer from COVID-19. The first patient is a 21-year-old athlete with an 8-year sports career. He developed shingles four days after being vaccinated against COVID-19. The second athlete is 20 years old and has been actively involved in fitness for ten years. He was diagnosed with herpes zoster three days after the vaccination. The third athlete is 23 years old and has been actively involved in sports and fitness since the age of 6;he was diagnosed 4 days after the vaccination against COVID-19. All three were diagnosed by a dermatologist. Discussion: The relationship between the development of herpes zoster after the administration of a vaccine against COVID-19 has been the subject of many studies worldwide, but the occurrence of herpes zoster after Covid-19 vaccination in athletes is described for the first time. Our team did not find a report of a case of an athlete with herpes zoster after vaccination for COVID-19 anywhere, which motivated us to describe the above three cases.
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In recent years, a number of complications have been observed as a result of uncontrolled antibiotic treatment. One of them is gastrointestinal dysbiosis. Not infrequently it is the cause of pseudomembranous colitis, a disease with a remarkably high associated mortality. It can be severe and requires serious medical care. This report presents a clinical case of a patient who developed the disease pseudomembranous colitis after antibiotic treatment for a Covid infection. The aim of the report is to define and present in a systematized manner the nursing care provided in the specific case. The daily analysis of the patient's condition allows to offer complex, adequate and individual nursing care, which, in addition to meeting her needs, also aims to alleviate her condition.
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Various Slovenian hospitals were recruited to treat COVID-19 patients in Slovenia during the COVID-19 epidemic. Centrally coordinated hospital utilisation - depending on the needs, available hospital bed capacity, and considering the professional orientation of individual hospitals - left these facilities with different experiences. We present our experience and COVID-19 treatment management during the fourth epidemic wave in our peripheral, pulmonary-oriented hospital, representing the first treatment quality analysis of these patients in Slovenia. The basic hospitalization characteristics were analysed using integrated Birpis information system solutions and the electronic temperature-therapeutic charts (eTTL) review. The quality of management was assessed through adherence to professional recommendations. The analysis was carried out with the in-built statistical functions of Microsoft Excel software. 99 patients (58 women, 41 men) aged 67.9 years were hospitalised for an average of 8.1 days. The majority were residents of our region (61%), unvaccinated (61.6%), and experienced a severe form of the disease with the need for oxygen supplementation (88.9%). The majority received steroids (73.7%), antibiotics (68.7%) and vitamin D (71.7%), to a lesser extent specific therapy (remdesivir 25.3%, combination casirivimab/imdevimab 2%, tocilizumab 1%). No adverse reactions were noted. 17 people died (total mortality rate 17.2%). There was no infection transmission among the COVID department staff. Results show successful treatment of patients with COVID-19 in Topolsica Hospital. They also suggest the possibility of further improvements, particularly in prescribing antibiotic therapy.
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Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is among the most impactful poultry pathogens, whose control, based on biosecurity and routine vaccination, is hampered by the existence of countless genetic variants sharing poor cross-protection. A retrospective study was conducted on IBV positive samples collected in Italian broiler farms from 2012 to 2019. In 2015, the adopted vaccination protocol shifted from a Mass and 793B-based vaccines to the administration of Mass and QX vaccines, allowing to study how changes in vaccination strategies may affect IBV epidemiology, control and diagnosis in the field. The most frequently detected lineages were QX (70.3%), 793B (15.8%) and Mass (11.9%). The relative frequencies of QX and 793B detections remained stable throughout the study, while Mass detections significantly increased after the vaccination change. Rather than to an actual growth of Mass population size, this finding may be attributable to different vaccine interactions, with Mass strains being more frequently concealed by 793B vaccines than by QX ones. Based on the obtained results, the two vaccination protocols appear to be similarly effective in fighting IB outbreaks, which in the last decade have been caused primarily by QX field strains in Italy. These results indicate that vaccination strategies may significantly affect IBV epidemiology and diagnosis, and should therefore be considered when choosing and interpreting diagnostic assays and planning control measures.
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Background: Companies had to find quick solutions for continuing to work due to the pandemic in spring 2020. However, working conditions at home (teleworking) do not always comply with the basic principles and quality criteria of workplace health promotion (WHP). Objectives: How strongly is the approach of health-promoting telework (working at home) established in companies and what influences the strategic anchoring and the use of supporting materials? Materials and methods: Theoretically derived hypotheses were operationalised and 1858 Austrian companies were invited to participate in an online survey. The sample (n = 192) represents a broad mix of company sizes, sectors and regions. Results: Workplaces vary widely in their intention to implement health-promoting telework in the future. A part can be explained by multivariate path models, with behavioural control and social norms playing a central role. The former is determined by the degree of preparation for telework and its implementation in the company. In particular, teleworking culture, in addition to teleworking readiness, is shown to be responsible for the strength of social norms towards its implementation. Conclusions: Teleworking has so far received too little attention in the sense of holistic WHP. Such an implementation strongly depends on the health-promoting corporate structures and processes, the culture, and the decision-makers' scope for action. Companies are recommended to follow the concept of capacity building in order to build up competencies and knowledge and to enable appropriate measures.
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The paper presents the reaction of the Romanian cereal market to the disruption of trade flows caused by certain shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which lead to changes with high impact on the functioning of this market, representing an important test for the resilience of the sector. Due to trade liberalization in global markets, including agri-food markets, the competitiveness of exports has become increasingly important, contributing to the creation of the country's competitive advantage. Any restrictions to trade in agri-food products can distort trade flows, and this disruption will have an impact on supply and prices. Maintaining a balance between imports and exports is essential to ensure domestic market stability. International trade in agri-food products plays an important role in global food security. The results show that Romania mainly exports unprocessed agricultural products, with cereals having the largest share in the export structure, cereal supply is dependent on climate change, yet it is one of the products with the lowest volatility. The cereal market shows a more elastic reaction to price responses, even though demand for staple foods is generally inelastic.
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Background: In the past few decades the animal keeping culture and habits have changed a lot internationally, some animals have become family members. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented situation in the world, including Hungary. In many places, the quarantine period was associated with Isolation and, therefore, an increase in the number of companion animals. Objectives: Our aims were to (1) survey the animal keeping culture and habits, (2) examine the motivation of the owners and (3) explore the attitudes about adoption, neutering, breeding and the use of livestock animals in Hungary. Materials and Methods: Specialized surveys were conducted among 843 persons through social media and personal interviews from 20 June to 30 August 2021 by using a questionnaire including 16 questions. The chosen groups were compared with Fisher's Exact test and Chi-square test. Results and Discussion: 97.0% of the respondents regard their dog as a family member. Nearly 25% of the respondents do not wish to neuter their dogs, because they want to breed the dogs or they find it unnecessary. The primary reason for cat keepers not to neuter their pet is the financial issue. Animal keepers and women are significantly more likely to consider their animal as a family member (p < 0.001). Men, the elderly, people who live in the countryside and those who have only elementary education think that neutering is of less importance (p < 0.001). Non-animal keepers, elderly people and men think more negatively about adoption. Buying an animal from a breeder is more important to the younger age groups (p < 0.001) arid those who live in Budapest (p < 0.01). 42.3% of the respondents gave the lowest evaluation scores to the assessment of the livestock units. Women, people from younger age groups (p < 0.05) and those who have higher education (p < 0.001) think more negatively about the use of farm animals. Non-animal keepers, the elderly and people of lower education consider the livestock animals' emotional intelligence lower (p < 0.05). Men (p < 0.001), people over 65 years of age (p < 0.001) and of lower education (p < 0:01), and also non-animal keepers (p < 0.001) accept significantly easier the use of livestock animals.
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After the global pandemic caused by the coronavirus, another epidemic began to unfold, which again induced fear in the population. This new epidemic is caused by the monkeypox virus and originated in Africa. It mainly spreads among MSM (men who have sex with men) population, so it can be interpreted as a new type of sexually transmitted infection.
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Objective: The study aimed at identifying the influence of socio-demographic factors on perceived stress during the first and the second "waves" of the COVID-19 pandemic among patients with depression and anxiety in remission compared to controls. Method: The study was designed as case-control, cross-sectional and non-interventional, and included 60 outpatients with depressive and anxiety disorders in remission and 60 controls with or without family history of affective disorder. A self-assessment scale (Perceived Stress Scale, PSS-10) was used to evaluate perceived stress. The remission was objectified by the Clinical Global Impression scale (CGI-S 2) and a questionnaire about the socio-demographic features and clinical characteristics of the disorders was completed. Results: By using multiple logistic regression, it was found that the diagnostic category and/or the relevant family history did not predict higher levels of perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic (p > 0.05). Females were associated with higher risk of moderate or high stress (OR=2.613, p=0.017), as well as those working from home during the pandemic (OR=4.00, p=0.026). Conclusions: Addressing the COVID-19 effects on mental health in a biopsychosocial manner, the study shows the impact of socio-demographic factors such as gender and work environment in times of a psychosocial crisis. The lack of differences in stress perception by the patients in remission and healthy controls implicates the importance of adequate maintenance treatment and easy access to mental health services in times of crisis.
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The Covid 19 pandemic is a global, not only, health crisis with devasting impact on the world economy in general. These impacts are also visible more and more in food and agriculture sector as the main sector of population nourishment. In spite of adopted measures in many countries, spread of the virus is starting to distrupt the supply of agrofood products to markets and consumers, both within and across borders. Most major economies are expected to enter recession as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, and the OECD has estimated that for each month the necessary containment measures continue the drop in output is equivalent to a decline in annual GDP growth up to 2 percentage points. How damaging these impacts tourn out to be for individual agricultural production of countries and agricultural cooperatives which are consider as the more viable during crisis is the objective of this paper.